
LIPPINCi 
EDUCJflONAL Si 

EDITED B7^ 
MARtlN G. BRUMB/WGKJ^M 




THE 

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SAMUbL HAMILTON. FH. 




Class 1, 3 I D 3 3 

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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT! 



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in 2011 with funding from 
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LIPPINCOTT 
EDUCATIONAL SERIES 



EDITED BY 

MARTIN G. BRUMBAUGH, Ph.D., LL.D. 

PROFESSOR OF PEDAGOGY, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, AND EX-COMMISSIONER 
OF EDUCATION FOR PORTO RICO 

¥ 
VOLUME V 



LiPPiNcoTT Educational Series 



THE RECITATION 



BY 

SAMUEL HAMILTON, Ph.D. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA. 




PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
19,06 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two GoDies Received 

APR 20 1906 

jk Copyright Entry 



ASS a,l.W(c. No, 



l.^ 



\o 



A 



Copyright, !9o6 
By J. B. LippiNcoTT Company 



Published April, 1906 



Electrotyped and Printed by 
J. B. Lippincott Company^ Philadelphia^ U. S. A, 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 



This is neither a profound nor an exhaustive treatise 
on the recitation. It is only a series of easy lectures on 
the subject, prepared for young teachers. They are pub- 
lished in the hope that they will prove helpful to this 
class, and serve as a manual or guide in making the reci- 
tation a greater instrument of service. The discussion 
of the various themes in most cases is very brief, and 
often fragmentary. A full treatment of each would 
extend the limits of this volume far beyond its contem- 
plated size. Emerson says, " The best part of a book is 
not what it contains, but what it suggests." And the 
whole discussion in this volume is intended to be sug- 
gestive rather than exhaustive. 

Many of the professional books are too difficult for 
young teachers. They appeal to the more advanced 
students of pedagogy. This volume is an effort to aid 
the younger members of the profession by simplifying, 
and, if possible, clarifying for them, subjects usually 
regarded as difficult and obscure. Our effort has been 
to bring the whole discussion within the grasp of the 
average high-school graduate. 

These lectures were not originally intended for publi- 
cation. At first they existed simply as a set of outlines, 
used as a basis for discussion in presenting this phase of 
the work to teachers. These outlines are given at the 
close of each chapter. They may be rejected as imper- 
fect, illogical, and incomplete ; but they served their orig- 



vi AUTHOR'S PEEFACE 

inal purpose, and will reveal to the student at a glance 
the author's analysis of each theme. 

It has been thought best to present these lectures 
here just as they were delivered, with their repetitions 
for emphasis, and their various summaries, so neces- 
sary in the lecture method of teaching. 

In the preparation of these lectures each was re- 
garded as more or less complete in itself. And yet 
our purpose was to study the recitation in its unity, its 
parts, its methods. Hence the classification as herein 
given. 

This book goes forth with very modest claims. Its 
contribution to the great volume of pedagogical litera- 
ture is very meagre. It may be even less, perhaps, 
than the proverbial two-pence. But it is an honest 
effort to aid young teachers by a careful study of some 
of the practical phases of school work. Our aim was 
to be sound in theory, simple in treatment, clear and 
concise in presentation, brief and pointed in discussion, 
and, withal, practical and helpful. To what extent 
these ends have been attained the reader must decide. 
With the poet we are ready to exclaim. 



What is writ is writ. 

Would that it were worthier.' 



S. H. 



EDITOR'S PREFACE 



Education is a process of soul-enrichment. This en- 
richment results both in the forming and in the inform- 
ing of the soul. The former is culture, the latter is knowl- 
edge. They are distinct in theory but united in practice. 
Culture is the concomitant of knowledge. The converse 
is also true. But this concomitance is a variable relation. 
There may be a maximum of knowledge with a minimum 
of culture, or there may be a maximum of culture with a 
minimum of knowledge. There may also be all shades 
of relation between these extremes. The educational 
process as conducted by the teacher in a large measure 
determines the issue. The teacher may proceed in a man- 
ner that will form the mind for the acquisition of knowl- 
edge or in a manner that will inform the mind with many 
facts of knowledge. If, as is usually held, culture is worth 
more than knowledge, it follows that good teaching aims 
to secure a maximum of culture, mental power, with a 
minimum of data or knowledge. 

Education is wasteful to the extent that it multiplies 
unrelated facts in the soul. Education is economic to the 
extent that it succeeds in enriching each new fact pre- 
sented in consciousness. This enrichment is the result of 
establishing between the new fact and knowledge already 
in the soul the greatest possible number of essential rela- 
tions. This gives greater significance to the new fact, ren- 
ders it easier of recall, and adds to its cultural value. 
Poor teaching crowds the soul with multitudes of unre- 

vii 



viii EDITOR'S PREFACE 

lated data. Good teaching organizes all the facts of knowl- 
edge into systems of thought. Thus the poor teacher is 
constantly insisting upon greater industry in the acquisi- 
tion of knowledge, while the good teacher is patiently but 
industriously endeavoring to make the most of the facts 
in consciousness and thus in the forming of the mind for 
subsequent achievements. 

Most courses of study are over-weighted. They com- 
pel attention to the less important phase of true teaching. 
This is unfortunate and can be justified upon no peda- 
gogic grounds, unless, as some have said, it is necessary 
to provide an excess of data for poor teachers in order 
that they may be able to keep their pupils busy. But 
even this is an unworthy interpretation of the function of 
the school. Why make a poor course of study because 
of poor teachers ? Is it the business of those that form 
the materials of instruction to cover the weakness of 
teaching by an over-loaded curriculum ? A proper state- 
ment of the data of education would aid in eliminating 
worthless teaching. Surely this is a vital function of 
supervision. 

The teacher in the last analysis is the course of study. 
His interpretation, more than its content, determines its 
pedagogic significance. What the school may do for the 
pupil is conditioned by what the teacher is in equipment, 
in experience, in professional spirit, and in personal 
worth. Everywhere and always the cry is for splendid 
teachers. The issues involved are of such far-reaching 
consequences that we shall never be content with any- 
thing short of ideal teaching by ideal teachers. 

The focus of the teacher's influence is the recitation. 
At no other point does his life so vitally and so intimately 
touch the life of the pupil as in the recitation. That the 



EDITOR'S PREFACE ix 

teacher should approach the recitation with right ideals 
and conduct it with wise processes is his crowning achieve- 
ment. All that he may do in advance of the recitation by 
preparation and by organization fmds its value measured 
solely in terms of efficiency in the recitation itself. For 
this central act all other processes exist. To fail here is 
to fail utterly. To succeed here is to succeed decisively. 

To understand how to dispose the pupils' minds, to 
know how to induce right conditions in the learning act, 
to arouse interest, to quicken intellectual activities, to se- 
cure clear and facile expression, to implant an abiding 
love for learning, in short, to foster knowledge, culture 
and skill, these are the goals of the recitation. 

What the teacher does in the recitation is largely con- 
ditioned by what he has done to prepare himself for the 
recitation. The teacher cannot be indifferent to the value 
of broad general training nor of constant daily prepara- 
tion for the teaching activity in the recitation. Breadth 
and freshness of knowledge are alike essential to right 
recitational processes. There is also a quality of thought 
and of personality that is of moment. That teacher will 
succeed best who manifests sincere sympathy and con- 
cern for the pupil. The pupil must realize from the first 
that the teacher is a real friend whose heart is aglow with 
kindly concern. This enables the pupil to do his best. 
Whatever of criticism is admitted must be constructive 
rather than destructive. The aim of the teacher should 
be to dispose the pupil to make the most of the facts to 
be stated, considered, organized, and applied. 

The recitation is more than a lecture period. The func- 
tion of the teacher is more than that of telling facts and 
incidents to the pupil. The pupil's part in the recitation 
is most significant. The aim should be to cultivate free- 



X EDITOR'S PREFACE 

dom of expression. To this end it is well to have at least 
part of the recitation devoted to oral discussion. When 
the pupil's mind is passive and receptive the teacher has 
slight opportunity to measure the pupil's progress. When 
the pupil's mind is active and expressive the teacher has 
a clear view into his soul. This view is the teacher's best 
guidance. This active state of mind is also most condu- 
cive to the pupil's growth to independent thought, to the 
stage of development at which the teacher becomes dis- 
pensable and the pupil is self-guided in the acquisition of 
knowledge and power and skill. The wise teacher strives 
to render himself unnecessary to the pupil. 

There are two aspects of the function of the recitation : 
First, the recitation is a test of exposition. It aims to 
show clearly to the pupil what is to be mastered and how 
this mastery is attained. Here the teacher does his best 
work. Second, the recitation is a test of expression. It 
aims to give the pupil occasion to prove the scope and 
quality of his knowledge. Here the pupil does his best 
work. Since no expression is adequate that does not issue 
from proper preparation it follows that the first business 
of the teacher is to test the preparation of the pupil. This 
implies also the duty of pointing the purpose of the lesson 
and giving guidance in the art of study. It is in this part 
of the function of the recitation that poor teaching is re- 
vealed. To demand good expression is manifestly unwise 
when the teacher has failed to give essential direction to 
the pupil. All active aspects of mind demand, as the final 
act, some form of expression. The last act of the recita- 
tion is to secure from the pupil a satisfactory statement of 
his thought. When the pupil can prove his grasp of the 
facts in the lesson by a statement that is pedagogically 
sane the recitation has achieved its purpose. 



EDITOR'S PREFACE xi 

There is here also a most valuable occasion to impart 
incidentally but most significantly that fund of moral guid- 
ance which once set in the currents of the soul becomes, 
through habitual recall, character. The recitation is the 
teacher's opportunity to " point a moral," to link facts of 
the curriculum with the issues of life in conduct. To do 
this with the least appearance of dogmatic procedure is a 
fair test of good teaching. It will not do to ignore this 
obligation. It will not do to meet it in a bungling way. 
The wise teacher will study most to make morally signifi- 
cant all the activities of the pupil's mind. 

The author of this treatise is an experienced and suc- 
cessful teacher and superintendent of schools. He knows 
from wide experience the quality of current instruction 
and the great possibilities of a wisely administered school. 
His head and heart are ahke in intimate sympathy with 
sincere teachers who are striving to do the best things. 
From his abundant equipment for this important work 
he has herein given in a most practical and inspirational 
way the guidance needed by the American teacher in pro- 
ducing the highest good from the recitation. 

M. G. B. 

Philadelphia, February 20, 1906. 



CONTENTS 



PART FIRST 

The Recitation considered in its Unity 

chaps. pag3 

1. General View of the Kecitation 17 

2. The Purpose of the Eecitatiox 37 

3. Essentials of the Recitation 49 

4. Peepaeation for the Recitation or the Art op Study . 73 

PART SECOND 

The Recitation considered in its Parts 

1. Parts of the Recitation Ill 

2. Preparation, the First Formal Step 137 

3. Presentation, the Second Formal Step 147 

4. Comparison, the Third Formal Step 167 

5. Generalization, the Fourth Formal Step 183 

6. Application, the Fifth Formal Step 195 

Tc Thinking in the Recitation . 205 

PART THIRD 

The Recitation considered in its Methods 

1. General Methods in the Recitation 223 

2. Individual Methods in the Recitation 347 

3. Oral and Written Work in the Recitation 273 

4. Place and Tactics of the Recitation 291 

l^. The Use of Books in the Recitation . 311 

6 English in the Recitation 835 

xiii 



PART I 

CHAPTER I 

GENERAL VIEW OF THE RECITATION 



A good recitation is the real test of the school. It shows as in 
a mirror, the interest, skill, and information of the teacher, and 
the work of the class. 

George Rowland 

A recitation is almost valueless, unless something definite is 
accomplished. 

Selected 

The recitation is beautiful just in proportion as it secures 
energy of thought, however halting and struggling it may seem. 

Tompkins 



# - 



THE RECITATION 

CHAPTER I 

GENERAL VIEW OF THE RECITATION 

The terminology of a subject is important. Words 
often have various meanings, and the sense in which they 
are used in any discussion determines the exactness of 
the thought conveyed. Vagueness of meaning and con- 
fusion of mind are sure to follow indefmiteness of ex- 
pression. In this discussion, then, it is important that 
the sense in which the term "recitation" is used be 
clear and definite. 

I.— THE TERM DEFINED. 

The Recitation is not a Place. It requires a place, 
but it is in no sense a synonym of class-room. It also 
requires a period of time, yet it is not that period. It is 
not a place or a period, but rather a process or an 
exercise in which certain ends are accomphshed. 

In the literature of our profession the recitation is 
always regarded as a process or an exercise. Writers, 
however, do not agree as to the exact meaning of the 
term, consequently they differ in regard to its content 
and its limitations. Some use the term in a literal, 
others in a general sense. 

1. Its Literal Meaning*. Literally speaking, to Re- 
cite is to Tell or Say again -what was formerly Learned. 

19 



20 THE RECITATION 

This may be done in two ways. First, by telling what 
was learned in the exact language of the text ; or, second, 
by stating the substance of it in the pupiPs own words. 
The latter is always preferable. It at least requires some 
thought and develops some power of original expression, 
while the former may be only a memory recital of words 
not understood. While memoriter recitations, meaning- 
less to the child, are always to be avoided, yet it is wise 
to have the learner incorporate into his own phraseology 
as much of the choice language of the text as he can 
understand and use. This is one of the sources from 
which he enlarges and enriches his vocabulary and ac- 
quires the terminology of a subject. Strictly speaking, 
then, the recitation is the restatement of what was for- 
merly learned either in the words of the text or in the 
child's own language. This is the historical meaning of 
the term. It has come down to us from the time when 
school exercises consisted mainly in repeating in the exact 
language of the text what had formerly been memorized. 

If this comprises all that is included in the term, the 
process that it names is not in any sense a teaching ex- 
ercise. The teacher may test preparation, knowledge, or 
skill, but he may not instruct, because to recite means 
to say, to repeat, to rehearse, or to relate, and not to 
teach, to learn, or to instruct. 

2. The General Meaning of the Term. But the term 
" recitation" has a larger meaning than its etymology and 
its history suggest. Writers generally use it to embrace 
any and every school exercise in which the teacher 
teaches, tests, or trains, or in which the child acquires 
knowledge, power, or skill. The process is thus made 
to embrace almost every exercise except the formal 
examinations. This is the general meaning of the term, 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE RECITATION 21 

and while it is wise ordinarily to use words in their 
etymological sense, yet in this discussion we must depart 
from that rule and use the term in its generally accepted 
sense. 

3. The Recitation, then, is any Process or Exercise 
in which the Teacher teaches, tests, or trains, or in 
which the Learner acquires Knowledge, Power, or 
Skill, 

n.— PARTIES TO THIS PROCESS. 

As a process, the recitation is two-fold. It includes 
both teaching and learning. It, therefore, implies the 
active participation and co-operation of at least two 
persons, a teacher and a learner. The one presents, the 
other grasps ; the one questions, the other responds ; the 
one directs, the other does ; the one gives, the other 
receives ; the one teaches, the other learns ; the one in- 
spires, the other is inspired. Both must think and grow, 
and each must aid the other in attaining the desired end. 

1. The Teacher's Part. The teacher's part is to 
teach, to test, and to train ; to lead, to guide, and to in- 
spire ; to correct errors, to form habits, and to mould 
character. This is accomplished through the wise use of 
all or part of the following means : 

(a) By preparation of the child's mind to receive the 
subject matter. 

(6) By preparation of the subject matter. 

(c) By presentation of the subject matter. 

(cl) By explanation and illustration of the subject 
matter. 

(e) By suggestions about the subject matter. 

(/) By leading the child to think about and under- 
stand the subject matter. 



22 THE RECITATION 

(g) By what the teacher is and by what he does. 

2. The Pupil's Part. The part of the pupil is to 
acquire knowledge, power, or skill, to form right habits, 
and to grow in nobility and purity of character. These 
ends are attained through some or all of the following 
means : 

(a) By examining the subject matter. 

(6) By understanding and interpreting it. 

(c) By assimilating it. 

(d) By remembering it. 

(e) By applying and using it. 

All these may be summed up by saying the intellectual 
and moral growth of the child is determined by what he 
thinks, feels, and does. For thoughts create desires, de- 
sires lead to action and effort, and these are the instru- 
ments both of scholarship and character. As a man 
thinks, so he should feel and act, and as he feels and 
acts, so he is. Marcus Aurelius says, " The soul is dyed 
by the thoughts ;" and Bailey sings, — 

We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not hreaths ; 
In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives 
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. 

Feelings, thoughts, and acts, then, sum up all the 
means by which the pupil is to be trained, 

m.— IMPORTANCE OF THE RECITATION. 

The recitation is an important school exercise. In the 
lower grades it is by far the most important. And in 
what it does for the child in the advanced grades and in 
the high-school, it ranks next to the art of study. The 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE RECITATION 28 

class-room is the enchanted ground of pedagogy ; the 
sacred spot where two souls meet, each to influence and 
to be influenced by the other; the trysting The Enchanted 
place of truth and power, where they loiter Ground of 
that they may be seized and used by the ^ ^^°^^" 
child who has the courage to make the capture ; the mart 
of mind, Avhere earnest effort is the only coin needed to 
purchase a whole kingdom of moral, intellectual, or spir- 
itual truth. The recitation is the very gateway of oppor- 
tunity, both to the teacher and the child. To the teacher 
it is an opportunity to impart knowledge, to guide effort, 
to develop power, to form habit, to mould character, to 
deepen impression, to train in the art of study, to inspire 
the child with a love of learning, and to fix forever his 
habits of thought and expression. To the child it is an 
opportunity to acquire knowledge, power, and skill, and 
to catch glittering glimpses of the great sunlit valley of 
truth from the glowing hilltops of the teacher's inspira- 
tion. A great teacher, with a pent-up personality, 
throbbing with a desire to help others, is always the 
centre of an unconscious influence that shapes the life 
and character of childhood. But the recitation period is 
the time when that influence becomes conscious and 
active, and when the teacher with deliberate premedita- 
tion, with a definite purpose, and with a well-prepared 
plan, tries to aid and direct the child and to control his 
life and his destiny. And any exercise in which every 
influence, every effort, every energy of the teacher is put 
forth in the highest interests of the child must be of 
supreme importance, 

1. The Recitation is Important because its Char- 
acter will, to a Great Extent, determine the Child's 
Habits of Study. Children generally do what they are 



24 THE RECITATION 

expected to do ; they always do what they are required 
to do. Right action leaves a tendency to repeat itself, 
and oft repeated, forms habit and crystallizes into char- 
acter. Small expectation is the husbandman of a scant 
crop. The teacher who expects and who accepts imper- 
fect preparation, superficial work, a hazy conception of 
truth, and a careless expression of it, will generally get 
them. And these are the little foxes that are destroying 
The Little the tender vines in many a school-room 
Foxes. vineyard that would otherwise be fruitful. 

But blessed is the child that comes under the influence 
of a teacher who demands vigorous work, thorough prep- 
aration, and clearness of comprehension. Such a child 
will learn to love truth for truth's sake. He will finally 
acquire the instincts of the scholar and wear the badge 
of true culture, because of the student habits formed 
under the hallowed influence of such a teacher. 

2. The Recitation is Important because it will help 
to determine the Child's Habits of Tho'iig'ht and 
Expression. A memory recitation without thought is 
always of doubtful value, but one with hazy thought and 
careless expression on the part of teacher and child is 
detestable. Careless thinking produces careless habits, 
both of thought and expression ; while clearness and 
vigor of thought give accuracy and tenacity to memory, 
and clearness and vigor to expression. All true teaching 
holds clearly and distinctly before the mind of the child 
the thing he is to see and to think. It aims to give 
Functions of accuracy and definiteness to the thought, 
the Recitation, ^j^^j force and cleamess to the expression. 
The best fruit of the recitation is not a knowledge of the 
subject matter, but rather certain qualities of mind. 
These are accuracy of observation, distinctness of per- 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE RECITATION 25 

ception, clearness of apprehension, completeness of ap- 
perception, correctness of expression, and all those 
mental qualities that are summed up in what we call the 
child's habits of thought and expression. 

3. The Recitation is Important because it inspires 
the Pupil with a Love of Learning-. It is largely during 
its progress that the child lights the torches of its in- 
spiration with the sacred fire that always burns on the 
true teacher's altar. Life begets life, interest fires in- 
terest, inspiration springs from inspiration. The flashing 
eye, the glowing heart, the beaming countenance, the 
bristling thought, the burning word, and the all-consum- 
ing love of truth in a great teacher, await only the oppor- 
tunity of the recitation to arouse the dormant energies, to 
awaken the slumbering activities, to call into exercise all 
the powers, to enkindle a love of learning, and to fire 
with zeal and enthusiasm every member of a class. 

" Great personalities make great universities," said 
President Butler. And just as surely, great personalities 
make great teachers. The recitation is the place where 
this personality becomes most active and potent. There 
eye meets eye, pulse feels pulse, heart warms heart, 
mind touches mind, thought arouses thought, zeal fires 
zeal, and spirit inspires spirit. 

Every true recitation arouses, stirs, stimulates. It fills 
the mind and heart with a burning zeal. It lights the 
torches of desire with a never-quenching flame of 
enthusiasm. It touches the electric buttons of a child's 
inspiration, and sends him out into life an Tracking 
active, inquisitive, aggressive student, eager Truth to its 
to track truth to its secret lair in earth, or 
sea, or sky. And so eager, so enthusiastic is he, that he 
will foUow the trail at any cost, through any gloom and 



26 THE RECITATION 

over any obstacle, to the secret cavern where it was first 
hid by the Almighty. 

Such is the value of the recitation when a real master 
stands back of the teacher's desk, when a high priest of 
mind, matter, and method presides at the sacred altar. 
At such a shrine, presided over by such a teacher, the 
child gets facility and accuracy for his tongue, skill and 
scope for his faculties, wisdom and power for his mind, 
eyes and ears for his intellect, and arms and wings for 
his soul ; so that he may be a power for good as his 
knowledge-thirsting spirit wings its flight from spot to 
spot in its search for hidden truth, the sacred comple- 
ment of seeking minds. 

IV.-CHARAOTEmSTIOS OF A GOOD RECITATION. 

It is difficult to specify the essential characteristics of 
a successful recitation, as they will vary more or less 
with time and place. But a few general suggestions may 
be made that will throw some light on the subject at 
important points. 

1. The Recitation should be Short. This is espe- 
cially true in the elementary school. Attention consumes 
brain cells rapidly. Children cannot give vigorous, 
mental action and prolonged attention to any subject. 
Good teaching burns up the accumulated store of mental 
energy in a short time. The point of brain fatigue is 
soon reached with little children, and those housed in 
over-heated and poorly ventilated rooms, and with all 
A Paradoxical who are deprived of frequent periods for 
statement. pj^y in the opcu air. These periods give 
the mind time to restock itself with energy. Prolonged 
attention, therefore, without reaching the point of brain 
fatigue is impossible. And when this point is reached, 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE RECITATION 27 

all further effort is useless. This is why, paradoxical 
as it may seem, some fairly good recitations could be 
improved by shortening them. 

The length of the recitation will vary according to the 
grade, from five minutes in the primary, to perhaps 
forty in the high-school. What then shall determine its 
length? 

(a) The age of the pupils. 

(6) The temperature and purity of the school-room 
atmosphere. 

(c) The mental energy of the pupils disposable at that 
time. 

(d) The extent of the preparation made for it. 

(e) The energy-consuming power of the teacher and 
the subject matter. 

These principles may need some explanation. It is 
evident that every recitation in which little children take 
part should be short. It is equally clear that if the air 
is vitiated and over-heated the period must Length of 
be short, since these conditions tend to Recitation, 
stupefy the child, to suppress his interest, and thus 
render attention almost impossible. Indeed it would 
be wise perhaps to refuse to try to teach under such 
unfavorable conditions, for failure is likely to result, 
unless the teacher's effort is unusually vigorous. 

Child study has taught us that at certain hours of the 
day the pupil has more vital energy than at other times. 
From nine to eleven, and from tw^o to half-past three 
the amount of disposable energy for any effort is greater 
than at other times. As a result these are the periods 
for long recitations and for the study of difficult subjects. 
It would be unwise to make the recitation long im- 
mediately after the noon hour, when the digestive organs 



28 THE RECITATION 

are draining the reservoirs of the child's vitality in their 
effort to digest his dinner. A short period at that time 
easily exhausts the supply and leaves the child v^ithout 
power to apply to the v^ork at hand. 

A leading purpose of the recitation is to train the pupil 
to habits of study. And while one must often teach the 
child in the primary grade before it is able to study, yet 
in higher work, a good teacher will gauge the length of 
the recitation at least partly by the extent of the prepara- 
tion made by the pupils. 

A good recitation is generally shorter than a poor one. 
Good teaching is vigorous. It consumes the child's stock 
of vitality rapidly, while poor teaching calls for its ex- 
penditure at a slower rate. Running exhausts an athlete 
quicker than walking. He may walk for hours, but the 
periods for running must be short. Suppose a pupil has 
^ . ,^ a hundred units of mental energy at his dis- 

Fanning the °«' 

Fires of posal. If good teaching calls for its expendi- 

interest. ^^^^ ^^ ^-^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ uuits per miuutc, the 

stock will be exhausted in ten minutes. But poor teach- 
ing does not fan the fires of interest. It therefore con- 
sumes the fuel more slowly, perhaps at the rate of five 
units per minute. If so the supply will last twenty 
minutes. Thus vigorous teaching drains the child's 
reservoirs of vital energy much more rapidly than poor 
teaching. Every good recitation is, therefore, com- 
paratively speaking, a short one. 

2. The Recitation should have a Brisk Mental 
Movement. This is necessary to sustain the interest 
and hold the attention. Tompkins defines the recitation 
as " a movement of thought on a given theme." The 
flow of thought should be strong and rapid, not slow 
and sluggish. The mind of the child should be carried 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE RECITATION 29 

rapidly from point to related point. Skilful questions 
given at intervals of one minute each may be very help- 
ful, but the same, given at intervals of fifteen seconds, 
may be much better. The mind must move ; it cannot 
rest at any point but for a moment without wandering. 
In a recitation characterized by a sluggish flow of thought, 
enticing suggestions dissipate interest, and irrelevant as- 
sociations lead the mind away from the point at issue. 
But a brisk movement sustains the interest and holds 
the attention. The mind is kept busy noticing and dis- 
covering the related points as presented, and has no time 
to wander into forbidden fields. The movement of the 
thought is guided and pushed briskly forward by 
questions, suggestions, explanations, and directions. Such 
a recitation is a good remedy for stupidity. It develops 
alertness of mind, a quick perception, and a prompt 
mental response. 

But there is another side to this question of move- 
ment. There is a danger of being too brisk sometimes, 
in not giving a slow mind sufficient time to focus its 
stock of related facts upon the new idea in order to give 
it interpretation and place. This is a danger point to be 
noticed and avoided. 

How then shall we gauge the mental movement, the 
flow of the current of thought in a recitation? This 
question cannot be definitely answered, but the teacher 
should see that the mental movement is brisk enough to 
sustain the interest and hold the attention ; brisk enough 
to demand and develop that alertness of mind that is the 
essential characteristic of the learning process, and to 
destroy that sluggish mental pace that, long continued, 
makes the slow pupil stupid. 



30 THE RECITATION 

3. The Recitation should make a Presentation of 
the Subject that is Clear, Strong", Logical, and to the 
Point, and at the Same Time Systematic and Com- 
plete. These are essential qualities, but they are only 
external phases of presentation. There must be an inner 
activity responding to the external stimuli. This activity 
must be aroused, sustained, and directed, or the external 
presentation of the subject matter will be devoid of 
results. 

For a more extended discussion of this subject the 
reader is referred to the lecture on presentation. These, 
however, are the essential characteristics of a good pres- 
entation. And the teacher who is clear, strong, and logi- 
cal in his work, who is loyal to a true aim, faithful to an 
orderly plan, and who teaches directly to the point at 
issue, will always meet with a large measure of success. 
And a lesson thus presented, when properly joined to what 
preceded it, is a strong link in the chain of instruction. 

4. The Recitation must be adapted to the Child's 
Needs. The work should be pitched at the point of the 
child's mental grasp at which it gives its richest return. 
It is well to remember that " strength comes from wrest- 
ling," and that swimming against the current gives more 
strength than swimming with it. The best return comes, 
not from mental exercise, but from that grade of mental 
action that is pitched at the highest level of the child's 
best effort. The race-horse that is never pushed to his 
best efforts seldom increases his speed. So the child 
that works at a pace of effort too easy for him gets little 
return. 

Much of the ordinary school work is so easy for the 
child that the effort is almost without recompense. 
We classify and simplify, we analyze and dilute the 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE RECITATION 31 

child's mental food, until there is nothing left for his 
mental digestive apparatus to do. We waste much 
valuable time in trying to teach him what he already 
knows, to show him what he sees, and in trying to 
explain what he clearly understands. This is one ex- 
treme. 

In the other, truth, scarcely perceptible in the mist and 
fos^, swings in hazy circles far beyond the ^ ^ ^ 

°' ° •' ^ Two Extremes. 

child's power to see and to grasp, or stalks 

forth in solid phalanx, clad in the armor of a vocabulary 

foreign to him. Good teaching avoids both of these 

extremes. 

It loads the lesson with truth that is neither too light 
nor too heavy for him, but just of sufficient weight to 
test his strength. It holds the truth above him, not 
within easy reach, nor yet beyond his grasp, but just 
where it will require a vigorous effort to seize it. It 
strives to keep the child's mind working at least part of 
the time on the highest level of his best effort. 

v.— INDIOTMENTS AGAINST THE AVERAGE RECI- 
TATION. 

If the average recitation were on trial it would not be 
difficult to frame some serious indictments against it. 
Let us notice some of them. 

1. The Averag-e Recitation is too Indefinite. It is 
often so aimless that it is almost Avorthless. It lacks 
purpose, point, aim, edge, object, and end. It may be 
likened to a blind guide leading a blind traveller from no 
place to nowhere. A great telescope pointed into spac6 
and focused on nothing reveals nothing. To prove its 
worth it must be trained on some objective point. So 
the recitation to be of value must have an aim. The 



32 THE RECITATION 

teacher who is not trying to do anything in particular 
accomplishes very little. And many recitations simply 
require the children to say over again their lessons in 
the most aimless way, and therefore with little or perhaps 
no profit to them. 

Three results, the unpedagogical influences of which 
are apparent even to the casual observer, come from this 
EvOs of aimless work, (a) It wastes much valuable 

indefiniteness. time, cousumcs vast quantities of mental 
effort, and gives practically nothing in return. (6) " It 
degrades the noble art of teaching into a lifeless stereo- 
typed trick, deadening alike to both teacher and pupil." 
(c) It encourages the growth of stupidity in the children. 

Stupidity is a growth. It can, therefore, be encouraged, 
and aimless recitations often teach it more than they 
teach anything else. Aimless work is automatic and 
mechanical. One can do it without thought. As a result 
it suppresses spontaneity and interest, induces indiffer- 
ence, and finally lulls into mental inactivity, and thus fur- 
nishes the very quality of school-room atmosphere in 
which stupidity thrives best. A recitation may be weak 
at many points, but it is always fundamentally weak if it 
lacks aim. 

2. The Average Recitation too often fails to Stim- 
ulate the Individual Thoug-ht of the Child. Mental 
exercise is the law of mental growth. We learn to think 
by thinking, and the recitation that fails to make the indi- 
vidual think has not done its best for him. The average 
recitation deals too much in empty words and not enough 
in thought. The king in " Hamlet," while trying to pray 
after the murder of his brother, cries out in despair : 

*• My words fly up, my thoughts remain below : 
Words without thoughts never to heaven go." 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE RECITATION 33 

And words without thoughts are just as useless in the 
recitation as they are in prayer. A child must do more 
than tell what the text says ; he must think thoughts 
suggested by it. The subject matter is the material with 
which to start and operate the thinking process. It is 
well to know the subject matter, but it is better to think 
about it. Not the author's thought, or the teacher's 
thought, but the child's own thought, occasioned by the 
exercise of his mind upon the material of the lesson, is 
of vital importance in all higher grade classes. A mem- 
ory disgorgement of undigested facts is a travesty and a 
sham ; an empty farce and a burlesque on the noble art 
of teaching. " Knowledge comes from observing ; wis- 
dom comes from thinking." And the mind that thinks 
clearly and vigorously about the subject matter is 
rewarded by increased strength and wisdom. The 
teacher must test preparation, but in the higher grades 
and the high-school the recitation must not stop at that 
point. Indeed the valuable part of it begins there. The 
pupils in such grades, if they have made proper prepa- 
ration, ought to know the surface subject matter of a 
lesson so well that most of the recitation period can be 
given to a discussion of it. Many recitations 
thus end really where they should begin, tionsendwhere 
Instruction in the higher grades should they should 
crystallize into individual opinions, beliefs, 
and conclusions about the subject matter. The mind of 
the child must be put to work upon the material of the 
lesson, and the mental action thus occasioned must be 
guided until certain ends are reached. A recitation may 
have every other essential quality, but if it lacks individual 
thought on the part of the pupil it is a failure. For think- 
ing educates, and nothing else can be substituted for it. 



34 THE RECITATION 

3. The Average Recitation is Subject to Serious 
Charges because it so often fails to instruct the Child. 
It tests the pupil's knowledge of the subject, but it does 
not instruct him. Indeed many recitations are only ex- 
aminations. In teaching, the current of truth, so to speak, 
is directed toward the child. The aim of the teacher is 
to have the class see, grasp, or comprehend something. 
In an examination the very opposite takes place : the cur- 
rent of truth is reversed and flows from the class toward , 
the teacher, as he draws from them their knowledge of 
the lesson. This weakness is very prevalent. We ex- 
amine, examine, examine, but we seldom teach. In the 
schools of Germany emphasis is placed upon the teaching 
recitation. Without intending to do so, we are plac- 
ing the emphasis on the examining recitation. This 
may not explain why the German boy reaches the 
university at least one year earlier than his American 
brother, but it certainly retards the latter. And our 
school work would be greatly strengthened if the aver- 
age recitation was devoted to teaching rather than to 
testing. 

4. Another and Most Serious Indictment against 
the Average Recitation is that there is too much 
"Waste Time in it. This is due to inattention, to repe- 
titions, to senseless questions, and to the habit of re- 
viewing without profit to the child what he clearly under- 
stands. One recites and makes progress while many 
wait and waste time. The time devoted to the recita- 
tion is out of all proportion to the results that come 
from it. This is what President Harper had in mind 
when he said, " The recitation is too expensive." And 
waste time in any school exercise is a most serious charge 
against it. 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE RECITATION 35 

The recitation is a valuable instrument for good. But 
it is robbed of its vitalizing power when it lacks aim, 
individual thought, and the investigating spirit, when its 
length is not adjusted to the needs of the child, and when 
by poor class management the teacher fails to make each 
child's time purchase its equivalent in results. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 
I. — The Term Recitation Defined. 

1. Its literal meaning. 

2. Its general meaning. 

3. The recitation defined. 

II. — Parties to the Process. 

1. The teacher's part. 

(a) To teach, test, and to train. 

(b) To lead, guide, and inspire. 

(c) To correct errors, form habit, and mould charac- 

ter. These ends are attained : 

1. By preparation of the mind. 

2. By preparation of the subject matter. 

3. By presentation of the subject matter. 

4. By explanation, suggestion, and illustration. 

5. By leading the child to think about the sub- 

ject matter. 

6. By what the teacher is, and what he does. 

2. The pupil's part. 

(a) To acquire knowledge, power, and skill. 

(b) To form right habits. 

(c) To grow in nobility and purity of character. 

These ends are attained : 

1. By studying the subject matter. 

2. By understanding and interpreting it. 

3. By assimilating it. 

4. By remembering and applying it. 

5. By what he thinks, feels, and does. 



36 THE RECITATION 

III. — Importance of the Recitation. 

1. It determinates the child's habits of study. 

2. It determines his habits of thought and expression. 

3. It inspires the pupil with a love of learning. 

IV. — Characteristics of a Good Recitation. 

1. It is short. 

(a) Length of period determined : 

1. By the age of the child. 

2. By the temperature and purity of the school- 

room atmosphere. 

3. By the amount of mental energy disposable 

at the time. 

4. By the extent of the pupil's preparation. 

5. By the energy consuming power of the 

teacher and the subject matter. 

2. It has a brisk mental movement. 

(a) To sustain interest and hold attention. 

(b) To demand and develop alertness of mind. 

3. The presentation is clear, strong, and to the point. 

4. It is adapted to the child's needs in matter and 

method, 

V. — Indictments against the Average Recitation. 

1. It is too indefinite, and thus tends : 

(a) To waste time. 

(b) To degrade the art of teaching. 

(c) To cultivate stupidity. 

2. It fails to stimulate individual thought. 

3. It fails to instruct the child. 

4. It wastes too much time. 



PART I 

CHAPTER II 
THE PURPOSE OF THE RECITATION 



All aimless teaching is poor teaching. 

Emerson E. White 

We must adapt our effort to the express object we wish to 
attain. 

Mary Willard 

When thou dost purpose aught 
Be sure to do it. 

George Herbert 

It is aim that makes the man. 

Paley 

To know a man, observe how he wins his object. 

COLTON 

To speak to a purpose, one must speak with a purpose. 

J. H. Friswell 

Purpose directs energy, and makes energy. 

Parkhurst 

Energy implies a fixed, settled, and unwavering purpose. 

Joseph Atterley 



CHAPTER II 

PURPOSE OF THE RECITATION 

The secret of success is constancy to purpose. — Beaconsfield. 

I.— AIM OF THE RECITATION DISCUSSED. 

The purpose in any school exercise is of first impor- 
tance. Aimless work is fruitless and therefore useless. 
The hunter who shoots with his eyes shut seldom brings 
home any game. And the teacher who blindly and 
without aim hears the children say their lessons, meets 
with the same measure of success. A blind man does 
not make a good carpenter. He cannot saw to the line, 
or hit the nail on the head. And a purposeless recita- 
tion is no more effective than a blind carpenter. 

1. Aim in the Recitation is Vital. It tells where 
instruction should begin, the course it should take, how 
it should proceed, and when it should end. A good 
recitation begins at the right place, proceeds in the right 
way, and closes when its purpose is accomplished. And 
to do this it must have a definite beginning, a definite 
plan of procedure, and a definite aim. 

2. Aim saves Time. *' A straight line is the short- 
est distance between two points," and in the recitation 
definite aim is the compass that marks out that line. 
"Sailing not drifting" is the teacher's motto, and to do 
this one must follow the polestar of purpose from start 
to finish. "A lame man on a straight road," says 
Bacon, " reaches his destination sooner than a courier 
who misses his way." Without a definite aim the 

39 



40 THE RECITATION 

teacher is likely to lose his way, to wander about, and 
thus waste much valuable time. And " nothing,'' says 
Theophrastus, " is more precious than time, and those 
who misspend it are the greatest of all prodigals." 

3. Aim conserves Energy. The gun that is fired 
without aim wastes its shot. A thousand such guns dis- 
charged at random in the neighborhood of a fortress 
accomplish nothing. A few well aimed shots even from 
smaller pieces are far more effective. A wise military 
man conserves his forces by concentrating them upon 
the weakest point in the enemy's lines, the point where 
he hopes to make his attack successful. So a good 
teacher saves her energies by concentrating them upon 
the desired end. Scattered effort dissipates energy, but 
concentration and aim conserve it. Economy of time and 
energy is the touchstone of advancement. 

4. The End always determines the Means. What 
you will do in a recitation is always determined by what 
you want to do, by what you are trying to do, and what 
you are trying to do always determines what is necessary 
to reach the desired end. The painter who expects to 
paint a high building selects a long ladder. If the trav- 
eller is going to a distant city he selects as a means of 
transportation a train or a boat. But if his destination 
is some farm-house nearby, he selects a horse and buggy. 
So the end in a recitation determines the means. The 
teacher selects the methods and devices that seem to 
promise aid in attaining the desired end. 

6. The Aim tests the Means. It enables one to 
try all things and to hold fast that which is good. We 
keep and use that which is helpful, and throw aside as 
useless anything that will not aid us in reaching the 
desired end. " The proof of the pudding is in the eat- 



PURPOSE OF THE RECITATION 41 

ing." So the value of any device is the aid that it will 
render in reaching the desired end. Thus the aim tests 
the value of the means. 

6. Aim Guides the Process while in Operation. 
What a blacksmith desires to make of a piece of iron 
decides what he will do with it. But aim does more than 
this ; it gauges the heat, guides the arm, measures the 
blow, and tells when the work is completed. The des- 
tination of the traveller not only determines the course 
he will take, it guides his progress at every step. So aim 
in the recitation not only selects and tests the means, but 
it also guides them while in operation. It is the monitor 
that tells what to do at each step. What you are trying 
to do in a game of checkers must guide not one, but 
every move. So aim in the recitation guides the process 
at every turn. 

7. Aim Unifies Effort. Every part of the work is 
organized with reference to the end, and contributes to 
it. Without aim one effort may counteract and annul 
another. Aim in building a house unifies the labor of a 
dozen workmen, each contributing his part toward the 
desired end. The glass in the hands of the old philoso- 
pher focused the sun's rays upon the enemy's boats as 
they lay in the harbor and set them on fire. So aim in 
the recitation concentrates and unifies effort. And every 
act of the teacher, as well as those of the pupils, blends 
into one united, concentrated effort to reach the desired 
end. 

8. Aim is Essential to Success. Aim attained is 
success, and success is the result of effort directed by a 
controlhng purpose. The teacher succeeds when his 
ends are attained ; he fails when they are not realized. 
The measure of success is the amount of progress made 



42 THE RECITATION 

toward a desired end. If there is no aim, there can 
be no success, because there is no progress toward an 
end. Right purpose reahzed is the true measure of 
one's success. Success, then, without aim is impossible, 
because it is the prize that effort receives when it reaches 
the end, and if there is no end there can be no success. 
To work without purpose is to fight with a leaden 
sword. 

9. Aim Encourages Effort. Success is a great source 
of encouragement. It is one of the real mainsprings 
of human action. But you cannot succeed without aim, 
and, as you realize this aim, you note the progress you 
are making. This inspires to greater effort and arouses 
to greater action. Thus aim stimulates effort. It makes 
success possible, it inspires both teacher and pupil, and 
stimulates them to greater action by crowning their ef- 
forts with the joy of achievement. 

10. Aim is just as Important as Effort. But they 
must be united. Either alone, like faith without works, 
is useless. United they are the twin angels of progress, 
the keynotes of success, the linchpins in the chariot of 
achievement. Aim and effort are complements. They 
must work hand in hand in every recitation. The one 
aims the gun, the other fires it ; the one is the track that 
guides the wheels of progress, the other is the fuel that 
moves them ; the one is the eye that directs the war- 
rior's arrow, the other is the strong arm that sends 
it to its quarry. One is just as essential as the other, 
but they must work together. United they forge the 
shaft of human progress ; separated, they shatter its 
prospects. 

Aim then, in the recitation, is important, vital, and 
necessary. It saves time, conserves energy, selects 



PURPOSE OF THE RECITATION 43 

methods, tests the means, guides the process, and meas- 
ures the progress of the work. It gives unity to labor, 
energy to action, leads the way to success, and crowns 
effort with the joy of achievement. 

n.— AIMS ENUMERATED. 

What, then, are the aims of the recitation so vital, so 
necessary, and so indispensable to success? To this 
question numerous answers have been given, and to 
enumerate some of those suggested by the great educa- 
tional leaders of the nation will be a sufficient answer to 
it at this time. 

The late Dr. White says the recitation is : 

1. To test the pupil's knowledge. 

2. To test the pupil's acquired mental power. 

3. To test the pupil's skill in school-room arts. 

In studying these aims it is to be noted that he uses 
the term recitation in its strict etymological sense. To 
him it is simply a testing or examining exercise. The 
work of actual instruction he assigns to another exercise 
which he calls the lesson. 

Ogden enumerates four specific aims for the recitation : 

1. To test preparation. 

2. To aid in a more thorough understanding of the' 
subject matter. 

3. To cultivate memory. 

4. To cultivate the power of expression. 

These aims somewhat enlarge the literal boundaries of 
the term. They sweep over its etymological limitations 
and include in it the actual instruction necessary to a 
thorough comprehension of the subject matter. 

Putnam suggests that the recitation has two great 
aims: 



44 THE RECITATION 

1. Instruction and testing on the part of the teacher. 

2. Learning and reciting on the part of the child. 

He places instruction and learning first, and thus shat- 
ters the partition between the recitation and the lesson, 
including the latter as part of the former. He uses the 
term recitation in a general, not a literal sense. 

Dr. Swett is more generous in designating the aims of 
the recitation. He divides them into two classes that 
may be termed major and minor aims. The main ob- 
jects, he says, are : 

1. To impart instruction. 

2. To give mental training to the child. 
The minor purposes, he adds, are : 

1. To induce study. 

2. To test preparation. 

3. To cultivate expression. 

4. To correct errors. 

5. To awaken inquiry. 

6. To form habits of attention, readiness, and self- 
possession. 

This is both a classification and an enumeration of 
aims, and is based not upon the etymological, but rather 
upon the general meaning of the term. 

Fitch sums up the objects of the recitation as follows : 

1. To find out what the pupil knows, to prepare him 
for instruction. 

2. To discover his misconceptions and difficulties. 

3. To secure the activity of his mind, and his full co- 
operation. 

4. To test the result and outcome of what you have 
taught. 

5. To determine the pupil's readiness or ability to 
go on. 



PURPOSE OF THE RECITATION 45 

6. To test yourself as a teacher. 
Sabin says a recitation should do four things for the 
pupil : 

1. It should determine his knowledge as obtained from 
the book used in class. 

2. It should be the means of making clear to him 
points which need explanation. 

3. It should convey to him information not in the book. 

4. It should afford him the medium of measuring him- 
self with his fellows. 

Dr. Harris sweeps the field with a master's eye. To 
him its content and its limitations are clearly defined. 
He, too, uses the term in its general sense, and within its 
boundaries he finds ample room for the following aims : 

1. To draw out each pupil's view on the subject. 

2. To test the crudeness or thoroughness of grasp of 
the subject. 

3. To correct his ideas by the greater comprehensive- 
ness of others in his class. 

4. To arouse and stimulate a new method of study in 
the next lesson. 

5. To cultivate the closest habits of attention. 

6. To bring into full play the powers of numbers 
engaged upon the same thought. 

7. To bring into play the teacher's highest powers. 

8. To supplement by stronger force what the pupil gives. 

9. To arouse self-activity, power of independent re- 
search, acute, critical insight, to be obtained only by con- 
tact with one's fellows striving for the same goal. 

10. To initiate the student into the great secrets of 
combination with his fellows. 

11. To help the struggling boy or girl to ascend above 
his idiosyncrasies and achieve the universal form. 



46 THE RECITATION 

12. To leam to suppress the merely subjective, and how 
to square his views with what is objective and universal. 

These are the main objects of the recitation. They 
include almost every possible aim and are sufficiently 
clear and comprehensive for all ordinary class w^ork. 
Within the boundary of these aims the teacher will find 
some specific end to be attained in each exercise. 

The architect sees from the beginning not only the 
finished product of his work, but every part of it in the 
most minute detail. He is therefore able to guide the 
workmen at every point and in every part of its con- 
struction. So the teacher must see the end not only 
from the beginning, but from every stage of the work, as 
he approaches that end. Then, and then only, may he 
escape failure, guard against waste, and be able to organ- 
ize and guide the means that will result in success. For 
purpose precedes successful effort as the eye precedes the 
hand. And all effort without purpose is blind. It lacks 
unity, dissipates energy, fails to recognize and organize 
the necessary means, and thus leads the way by the 
shortest route to failure. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

I. — Aims of the Recitation Discussed. 

1. Aim is vital. 

2. Aim saves time. 

3. Aim conserves energy. 

4. Aim determines the means. 
6. Aim tests the means. 

6. Aim guides the process. 

7. Aim unifies effort. 

8. Aim is essential to success. 

9. Aim encourages effort. 

10. Aim is as important as effort, 



PURPOSE OF THE RECITATION 47 

II. — Aims Enumerated. 

1. By White. 

(a) To test knowledge. 

(b) To test power. 

(c) To test skill. 

2. By Ogden. 

(a) To test preparation. 

(b) To aid in comprehending the subject matter. 

(c) To cultivate the memory. 

(d) To cultivate the power of expression. 

. 3. By Putnam. 

(a) Instructing and testing on the part of the teacher. 

(b) Learning and reciting on the part of the pupil. 

4. BySwett. 

(a) Major aims. 

1. To instruct the child. 

2. To train the child. 

(b) Minor aims. 

1. To induce study. 

2. To test preparation. 

3. To cultivate expression. 

4. To correct errors. 
6. To awaken inquiry. 

6. To form habits of attention and self-posses- 
sion. 

6. By Fitch. 

(a) To test knowledge and prepare the child for in- 
struction. 
(6) To discover errors and difficulties. 

(c) To arouse mental activity and encourage co-opera- 

tion. 

(d) To test what was taught. 

(e) To test the power of the teacher. 



48 THE RECITATION 

6. By Sabin. 

(a) To test the pupil's knowledge. 

(6) To make clear to him difficult points. 

(c) To instruct him. 

(ct) To measure himself with others. 

7. By Harris. 

(a) To test the pupil's view of the subject. 

(b) To test the pupil's grasp of the subject. 

(c) To correct his ideas by the greater comprehensive- 

ness of others. 

(d) To stimulate and direct study. 

(e) To cultivate habits of attention. 

(/) To develop class co-operation in thought. 

(g) To supplement what the pupil knows. 

(h) To bring into full play the teacher' s higher powers. 

(i) To arouse self-activity and the power of indepen- 
dent research. 

(j) To initiate the student into the great secrets of 
combination with his fellows. 

(k) To raise the pupil above individual idiosyncrasies. 

(l) To suppress what is merely subjective, and to see 
what is objective and universal. 



PART I 

CHAPTER III 
ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 



Where our interest lies, there our thoughts constantly fly. 

Colfax 

Attention is the first requisite for making progress in the 
acquirement of knowledge. 

G. Crabb 

By a strange paradox, men are taught by monotony as well 
as by newness. 

HiLLIS 

Attention to the mind is the natural prayer that we make to 
interior truth, that we may discover it. 

Malebranche 

Attention is possible only on two conditions, that the child 
shall have something to pay attention with and something to pay 
attention to. 

B. A. Hinsdale 

Attention is the stuff that memory is made of, and memory 
is accumulated genius. 

Lowell 

Utility is the test of excellence. 

Solon 

Man was created to utihze everything. 

Dumas 



CHAPTER III 

ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 

Interest is a strong motive power. — Burleigh. 

In the successful operation of any process, certain con- 
ditions, vital in the relation they sustain to its success, 
must be fulfilled. The process may be conscious or un- 
conscious, self-directive or guided by external influences, 
but the law remains the same. The essentials must be 
present or the process will fail. Growth demands nutri- 
tion, combustion requires oxygen, and reproduction is 
impossible without life. 

So it is with the recitation. There are certain condi- 
tions under which it must proceed that are vital in them- 
selves and fundamental in the relation they sustain to its 
success. With these conditions present, the recitation 
invites success ; without them, it guarantees failure. 
Learning is the final test of teaching, and no teacher 
really teaches except when somebody learns. Without 
the essentials the work may proceed and seemingly suc- 
ceed, but, if nobody acquires knowledge, power, or skill, 
the time and energy devoted to the recitation are simply 
wasted. 

What, then, are the essential conditions under which 
individual or class instruction may proceed with hope of 
success? Or, rather, what conditions are essential to 
the learning process ? 

The mind acquires a knowledge of the thing it inves- 

61 



52 THE RECITATION 

tigates. The extent of the knowledge is determined 
by the character and the extent of the investigation. 

But the mind will not examine or investigate 
First Essential ^^ ^^^ extent the thing that does not interest 

it. Hence interest is the first essential of 
the learning process. The mind alert, because of a 
present interest, examines willingly and learns rapidly. 

Interest can scarcely be regarded as an active attitude 
of the mind. It is rather a pleasing, enjoyable, gratifying 
condition arising in it, because of the contemplation of 
some agreeable fact. But, in the eager desire to know, 
manifested in the inborn curiosity of children, the mind 
assumes a more positive and active attitude in which it 
looks, longs, listens, and strives to grasp and know the 

things that interests it. This active, out-reach- 

Attention, ^ ' 

the Second iug attitude of the mind is attention, the second 



essential condition of the learning process. 
Interest is the feeling of pleasure excited in the mind by 
the attractive features of the thing it contemplates. Atten- 
tion is the effort of the mind to know more of the thing 
that interests it. 

The former to some extent is the basis of the latter, 
and the latter may be regarded as the outgrowth of the 
former. But they are two separate conditions, each im- 
portant in its place, and both essential to individual or 
class instruction. 

I.— INTEREST. 

The interest the child has in a presentation is either 
natural or acquired. The former grows out of some in- 
herent quality in the subject matter that makes it attrac- 
tive, and its contemplation and consideration pleasurable 
to him. The latter is the interest acquired in it by reason 



ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 53 

of its surroundings. The source of natural interest is 
the thing itself, or what it suggests ; the source of ac- 
quired interest is the thing in its relation to the things 
around it. Beautiful things are attractive, regardless of 
their surroundings, but things less attractive need the 
charm of background and environment to arouse our 
interest. 

If the children have this natural interest in a lesson, 
— that is, if they are aroused, attracted, and led to ex- 
amine its subject matter because of the feelings of pleas- 
ure and gratification they find in it,-— the problems of class 
management and class instruction are robbed of much 
of their difficulty ; for it is an easy matter to teach all 
who are eager and anxious to learn. 

But the difficult problem — the one that demands the 
greatest skill and the solution of which is awarded the 
highest honor — is how to invest that which is dry and 
uninteresting with those qualities that will make it attrac- 
tive and its contemplation pleasant to the child. 

Truth is like a diamond. It has many sides. And 
there is always one side that flashes and reflects the quali- 
ties that are pleasurable to the child. All 
phases of it, however, are not of equal at- Jife\^iutiful 
tractive power, and it is the business of the 
teacher to turn the attractive side of the subject toward 
him, and thereby give him an acquired interest in it. 
How may this be done ? 

A child may be led to acquire an interest in a subject, 
— (1) by seeing* the old in the new ; (2) by seeing* the 
new in the old ; and (3) by seeing the utility of the 
new. 

1. The Old in the New. A pupil may be led to ac- 
quire an interest in a new subject by seeing something 



54 THE RECITATION 

old in it. A child among strangers is greatly interested 
in seeing the face of his mother, or of some person well 
known. A traveller in a foreign land is greatly interested 
in meeting a friend from home. So familiar truths, found 
in the midst of a new subject, naturally interest the child. 

The study of that which is familiar to the child — the 
thing he knows all about — becomes very monotonous and 
consequently destructive to interest. So, also, he cares 
very little for that which is entirely new, and of which 
he knows nothing. But he is always interested in seeing 
the old in the new, — the thing that is familiar in the 
midst of that which is novel. 

All truth is related. This is a wise regulation. For it 
is impossible to get a truth into the mind unless it has a 
store of similar knowledge, or related facts, with which 
to examine and interpret the new thing. To learn is to 
see the relation between the known and the unknown, 
and the moment these relations are seen, the unknown 
becomes the known. This is the natural law of teach- 
ing, and, because it is nature's plan, it is the easiest way 
to invest that which is dry and new with acquired in- 
terest. 

An important application of this law is the study of 
lessons through present interests. Some subjects natu- 
rally unattractive become most interesting by reason of 
existing conditions and transpiring events. For instance, 
the history and geography of Russia and Japan, and the 
Approaching civilization of each, acquired great interest 
Lessons during the war between them. Likewise the 

of pr^sent^^ method of electing a President under our 
Interests. Constitution becomes a most attractive study 

during the campaign and at the time of the inauguration. 
An earthquake in some part of the world, that has 



ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 55 

wrought great destruction to life and property, lends 
interest to the study of earthquakes generally. In short, 
passing events and existing conditions may be made the 
medium through which an absorbing interest may be 
acquired in the study of many topics in history, civics, 
geography, and physiology. And it is needless to add, 
that the most opportune time to study them is when 
they are invested with living interest. 

In acquiring a knowledge of a new and unknown sub- 
ject, then, the law of acquired interest and the law of 
mental acquisition demand that the approach be made 
from the stand-point of the known, from the relation 
which the old bears to the new ; just as you acquire a 
knowledge of a strange city from some familiar spot, 
such as the station where you entered it, or the hotel 
where you are stopping. 

2. The New in the Old. A pupil may be led to ac- 
quire an interest in an old, threadbare subject by seeing 
something new in it. Thackeray says, " Novelty has 
charms that our minds can hardly withstand." This is 
more than a mere fiction, it is a great fact. For novelty 
is one of the greatest avenues to acquired interest. 

The child is just as much interested in seeing the vis- 
itor who comes into the home as he is in seeing the 
familiar face among strangers. A knowledge of cube 
root gives acquired interest to a review of cubic measure, 
because the child sees the new in the old and notices 
their reciprocal relation. Thus a knowledge of a new 
subject like geometry lends acquired interest to mensura- 
tion, because the new throws light upon the old, and the 
mutual relations of each to the other are grasped. 

Monotony destroys interest, but change inspires it. 
We scarcely hear the ticking of the clock, but we notice 



56 THE RECITATION 

at once the striking of the hour, because striking is a 
change from the monotony of ticking. The contempla- 
tion of old and familiar truth is very tiresome and mo- 
importance uotouous and destructive to interest, but the 
of Change. discovcry of something new in it affords re- 
lief and inspires new interest, because it is a change. 
The mind cannot remain long in its examination of that 
which is old. It must have some change. It naturally 
seeks that which is new, and if the teacher cannot point 
it out, the interest flags, and some irrelevant idea that is 
new leads the mind away from the point at issue. 

The child, then, may be led to acquire an interest in a 
subject by recognizing the old in the new, the new in the 
old, and by noticing their mutual relations. Skilful 
teaching points out these relations, and thus invests that 
which is uninviting, and perhaps repellent, with acquired 
interest. Indeed, good teaching consists very largely in 
pointing out the relations of the old to the new and of 
the new to the old. And learning is the act of noticing 
and grasping these relations, of making the novel into 
the familiar, of interpreting the new with the body of 
related truth already in the mind, and of working over 
both old and new into a body of newly organized truth 
by the process that we call assimilation. 

3. Utility. In the higher grades of the elementary 
school and in the secondary school utility may be 
made the medium through which the child may ac- 
quire an interest in a subject either old or new. When 
striving for a definite end we acquire an interest in 
anything that will aid us in reaching that end. Byron, 
on leaving college, cried out, like a slave released from 
bondage, " Then farewell, Horace, whom I hated so !" 
But the poet studied Latin and had a good knowledge 



ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 57 

of it, not because he naturally liked the study, but be- 
cause it would aid in his struggle to realize the literary 
ideals his budding genius was forcing upon him. Many 
a boy may acquire an interest in mathematical studies, 
not because he naturally likes them, but because they 
are necessary to a course in engineering, the ultimate 
goal toward which he is moving. Likewise a girl may 
acquire an interest in the study of stenography, not 
because the study is inviting to her, but because it will 
make her self-supportinsr. So utility maybe 

-, , I , ^ X . ' A - utility the 

made an important factor in acquired in- watchword 
terest. " Utility," says Flagg, '' is the watch- ^imef "" 
word of modern times," Knowledge is more 
than a mere possession ; it is also the instrument of 
progress, and utility holds as permanent place in mental 
as in material things. 

The main avenues, then, to acquire interest in a sub- 
ject are through the old in the new, the new in the old, 
and their mutual relations, and through the factor of 
utility. And the wise teacher will use all of them, be- 
cause he knows that interest, either natural or acquired, 
is absolutely necessary to success in the recitation. 

n.— ATTENTION. 

The second essential of a good recitation is attention. 
It is the tree of which interest is the root. The mind 
cannot receive truth until it first reaches out to grasp it. 
It cannot be fed until the sensation of hunger opens the 
mouth. It will not drink until thirst creates the desire ; 
and this grasping, hungering, thirsting attitude of the 
mind, in which it is eager and anxious to receive, and 
through which it reaches out to get what the teacher 
offers, we call attention. 



58 THE RECITATION 

Attention is absolutely indispensable. McLellan sayg^ 
" No amount of presentation^ however skilful ; no amount 
of repetition, however persistent ; no amount of explana- 
tion, however clear, is of any avail, unless the child's 
attention, the one condition of learning that cannot be 
Importance of dispensed with, is secured." A blind man 
Attention. cauuot perceive colors ; and it is just as im- 
possible to make a subject clear and luminous to a child 
when inattention has closed his mental eye. 

Attention simply means that the child's mind is no- 
ticing and discovering relations, — learning, — that it is 
grappling with some phase of the subject matter, that its 
mental machinery has been started by the material of 
the lesson and is in actual operation. On the other 
hand, inattention means that the mind is away on a jour- 
ney, that all connection between it and the subject matter 
has ceased, and that as long as it continues the teacher 
might as well be in Europe and the child in Africa as in 
the class-room so far as the progress of the pupil is 
concerned. 

The loss of attention indicates that some interest more 
enticing than that which springs from the lesson, some 
association more solicitous than that which arises out of 
the subject matter, some relation more inviting than the 
one the teacher is presenting, has led the learner's mind 
away from the point at issue. It may also mean that 
the brain-cells have been consumed to the last fibre, 
and that the child's reservoirs of mental energy are 
exhausted. In any case it is nature's notice to the 
teacher either to make the recitation more interesting or 
to bring it to a close. 

The degree of attention a teacher may expect in a recita- 
tion, according to Sully, is determined by two conditions : 



ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 59 

1. The quantity of nervous energy disposable at the 
time. 

2. The strength of the stimulus which excites the 
attention. 

If a child is strong and vigorous, with a superabun- 
dance of nervous energy, a fair degree of attention may 
be aroused even by a feeble stimulus. But, if from any 
cause the reservoirs of his vitality are drained, a stronger 
stimulus will be required. It is obvious, then, that there 
are some occasions when it is very difficult to secure a 
high degree of attention and to arouse the mind to a 
high degree of receptivity. 

1. When pupils are crowded into overheated and 
poorly ventilated rooms, and are thus deprived of a 
sufficient amount of oxygen to sustain vigorous mental 
action. 

2. When the recitation occurs late in the day and 
the pupil's stock of mental energy is somewhat ex- 
hausted. 

3. When the recitation occurs immediately after din- 
ner and the vital energies are engaged in digesting the 
noon meal. 

The ability of a teacher is to some extent determined 
by his power to interest children in the lesson and thus 
catch and hold their attention. Shakespeare says — 

" The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark 
When neither is attended. ' ' 

So the poorest teacher is as good as the best if neither 
has the attention of the learner. The most scathing 
criticism that can be offered upon a teacher's work is to 
say that he cannot get and hold the attention of his 
pupils ; for this, in plain English, means that he cannot 



60 THE RECITATION 

teach ; that he is a total failure, because he cannot take 
the necessary preliminary steps that will carry him for- 
ward to the point at which instruction actually begins. 

1. Classes of Teachers -with Reference to the Po"wer 
of Securing Attention. With reference to the power to 
secure and control the attention of the pupils, teachers 
may be divided into two classes : (a) Those who naturally 
possess the power ; and (6) those who must acquire it. 

(a) Those who naturally possess the power. Person- 
ality is both attractive and commanding. It draws by 
its presence ; it sways by its power. Leadership always 
has followers just as the magnet has adhesive parti- 
cles. . And the very presence of a great personality, 
with an eye that controls, with a voice that charms, with 
a manner that wins, and with infinite stores of reserve 
power that may be called into action at any time, easily 
secures and holds the attention of a class. In "Paradise 
Lost " Milton gives us a fme picture of this commanding 
and controlling power of a great personality, when he 
introduces Beelzebub to make his speech to the great 
council in Pandemonium. He says : 

" With grave 
Aspect he rose, and in his rising seemed 
A pillar of state ; deep on his front engraven 
Deliberation sat, and public care ; 
And princely counsel in his face yet shone. 
Majestic though in ruin : sage he stood, 
With Atlantean shoulders, fit to bear 
The weight of mightiest monarchies ; his look 
Drew audience and attention still as night 
Or summer's noontide air, while thus he spake." 

It was an easy matter for such a leader with such a 
personality to gain audience and attention. So many a 



ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 61 

teacher, by his eye, his voice, his manner, his attitude, 
his presence, and by all those qualities that enter into the 
commanding personality of a leader, attracts and holds 
the attention almost without effort. 

There is some danger that the attention thus secured 
by a great leader may be artificial, that it may be genuine 
only in its outward appearance. This personality may 
rivet attention upon itself rather than upon the subject 
matter. But after familiarity has to some extent toned 
down the admiration that always comes when a great 
leader is first met, the enchantment that charms makes 
the personality of such a leader an attractive means for 
aiding and controlling others. 

(b) Those who must acquire the power to gain and hold 
the attention. This is by far the most numerous class of 
teachers, and the practical question with them is how to 
secure this power. Let us look at the negative side of 
the question first. 

2. How not to secure Attention. i\.ttention is the 
voluntary application of the mind to the subject matter 
of a lesson with a desire to understand it. As Baldwin 
suggests, it can therefore be secured, — 

Not by military requirement. 

Not by arbitrary command. 

Not by earnest requests for it. 

Not by punishment for withholding it. 

Not by external rewards. 

The springs of interest are within. They are beyond 
the reach of arbitrary authority. Such methods are 
employed by mechanical and experimental teachers who 
lack the insight to locate these springs or the skill to 
lead the pupils to them. Giving mind to the subject, 
like giving money to charity, is valuable to the giver only 



62 THE RECITATION 

when it is voluntary. Hence such mechanical efforts 
fail to secure that for which they strive. The subject, 
however, is positive, not negative ; and the habit of giv- 
ing attention may be trained by the art of securing it. 

3. How to secure Attention. James, quoting Mr. 
Fitch on the art of securing attention, gives the following 
hints : " The position must be changed ; places can be 
changed. Questions, after being answered singly, may 
occasionally be answered in concert. Elliptical ques- 
tions may be asked, the pupils supplying the missing 
word. The teacher must pounce upon the most listless 
child and wake him up. The habit of prompt and ready 
response must be kept up. Recapitulations, illustrations, 
examples, novelty of order and rupture of routine — all 
these are means for keeping the attention alive and con- 
tributing a little interest to a dull subject." 

The methods of securing attention are numerous, but 
instruction in this difficult art may be reduced to a few 
important suggestions. 

(a) Secure attention and cultivate the habit of giving it 
by skilful presentation of the subject matter. Rembrandt's 
portraits are characterized by a flood of light thrown 
upon the features at the spot where the artist aims to 
focus the gaze. Outside this, everything shades off into 
obscurity and shadow. Skilful presentation vivifies the 
uninteresting lesson with interest. It throws a flood oi 
light upon the point at issue, and shades off into obscurity 
everything irrelevant. It encourages inquiry by directing 
it, strengthens curiosity by feeding it, and stimulates in- 
vestigation by rewarding it. It is clear, strong, logical, 
and to the point, and thus helps to keep sleepy minds 
awake, slow minds moving, and wandering minds fixed. 

1. Skilful presentation works through interest Interest 



ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 63 

is the basis of attention. It is that magnetic quality of 
truth that draws the mind to it. The contemplation of 
any fact that is interesting gives pleasure to the mind and 
impels it to further investigation. Interest, then, is the 
key to attention. It opens the door of the mind through 
which truth may enter. The mind that is really inter- 
ested reaches out after the thing that interests it. It 
craves the truth that invites it, because of the pleasure 
its contemplation affords and the gratification it gives. 
Skilful presentation knows this, and therefore studies 
the secret sources of interest. It creates a desire, and 
then rew^ards the grasping mind by giving it what it 
seeks. 

Skilful presentation appeals to the natural curiosity 
of the child. A desire for new truth precedes instruc- 
tion ; and if this desire is properly aroused, and properly 
satisfied, it opens the flood-gates of interest and becomes 
one of the chief sources of attention. 

Skilful teaching makes a wise use of stories, anec- 
dotes, incidents, because they help to train the attention 
by interesting the children. But they must necessarily 
grow out of and illustrate the subject matter, and thus 
be an essential part of the lesson. 

Then, too, the skilful teacher interests the pupils and 
trains their attention by being interested himself. Life 
only can give life, enthusiasm enkindles enthusiasm. Fire 
warms all who approach it, and zeal communicates itself 
from soul to soul. Interest is contagious, and soon 
spreads from teacher to class. The teacher ^ 

^ Earnestness as 

that is all aflame with this magnetic fire a Basis of 
will have little trouble in communicating it. 
Teaching is not a joke. It is serious business, and 
those who succeed must be in earnest. It is this 



64 THE RECITATION 

serious earnestness Shakespeare has in mind when he 
says: 

* * They say the tongues of dying men 
Enforce attention like deep harmony." 

Baxter suggests the same thought in the following Unas : 

''• I preached as never sure to preach again, 
And as a dying man to dying men." 

The teacher who is dying professionally and intellec- 
tually, as Trumbull suggests, has no rightful place in the 
ranks of the skilful, and ought to have no place in the 
school. But the living, growing teacher, with a warm 
heart, with generous sympathy, with burning zeal, with 
an inspiring manner, and with serious earnestness, is 
always desirable. Such earnestness is a great magnet. 
Its open presence draws ; its secret power attracts the 
most listless. " Interest is the mother of attention," 
and she never fails to train her child. And an earnest 
teacher, overflowing with a subject in which he has 
steeped his very soul, and eager in an intense desire to 
present it to a class, will, under ordinary circumstances, 
interest the pupils and through it train their attention. 

2. Skilful 'presentation appeals to the eye as well as to the 
ear. Attention is the door through which truth enters 
the mind. The latch is on the inside, and the eye and 
the ear are the main latchstrings which the teacher must 
employ in opening it. Skilful teaching uses both. It 
knows that ordinary instruction is addressed to the ear, 
and therefore seizes every opportunity to use maps, 
charts, objects, and illustrations that appeal to the eye. 

3. Skilful presentation makes a wise use of illustrations. 
Instruction must be clear and pointed. Abstract state- 



ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 65 

merits and general truths are not easily understood. To 
make instruction in any field clear to the child, and to 
give him a comprehensive grasp of the truth, the skilful 
teacher will necessarily make frequent use of figures, 
comparisons, and illustrations. But the figures through 
which the child is shown the desired truth must be 
transparent, and the illustrations must be luminous. 
Unless they throw some light into the haze and gloom 
where the truth under consideration lies concealed from 
the child, they are worthless. But where illustrations 
illustrate^ they encourage the act and strengthen the 
habit of attention by showing the mind what it seeks. 

4. Skilful presentation works through the laws of ac- 
quired interest. As this is discussed under the head of 
interest, it is necessary only to mention it here. The 
child has a natural desire for truth. His curiosity, his 
inquisitiveness, his eager, restless interest in his environ- 
ment, are but other manifestations of this desire to know, 
that is so deeply implanted in his nature. He longs for 
truth, he must know, he persistently seeks knowledge 
from the cradle to the grave. And the skilful presenta- 
tion of a lesson is the greatest means at the teacher's 
command by which he secures attention and trains in 
the habit of giving it, because it rewards the mind in the 
right way and at the right time, and in the largest meas- 
ure, with the very thing that it naturally seeks. If this 
natural interest is wanting, the teacher must work 
through the laws of acquired interest in an effort to 
make that which is in itself uninviting beautiful and 
attractive to the child. 

(b) Secure attention and cultivate the habit of giving it by 

skilful class management. A good general brings back 

deserters and makes it difficult for those who would 

5 



66 THE RECITATION 

leave to get away. So skilful class management brings 
back the mental deserters, and makes it difficult for all 
who would desert to get away. 

1. Skilful class management favors attention by group- 
ing a class into a small area. It brings the entire class 
under the immediate range of the inspiring and control- 
ling power of the teacher's eye. All tendencies to in- 
attention are easily noted, and remedies promptly 
applied. The class and teacher, thus in close proximity 
create an atmosphere of sympathy and interest which, 
breathed by the listless, aids in promoting his attention. 
The attitude of attention is looking and listening ; hence 
skilful management demands silence and rivets the eyes 
of the class on the teacher or on the object in which 
instruction centres. A wide separation of the class in 
different parts of the room encourages inattention, but a 
close grouping of the pupils aids in preventing it. 

2. Skilful class management encourages attention by 
appealing to all the pupils as well as to each. If questions 
are asked, each is addressed to the class to arouse, stir, 
and stimulate each ; then one is called upon to answer. 
Each child is thus made responsible for the entire lesson 
and for the answers. Each must be ready, because he 
may be asked to answer at any time. Failure to answer 
promptly takes the time of the class, and is therefore a 
crime against it. Inattention becomes a personal dis- 
grace and calls forth the condemnation of the pupils. 
Skilful management avoids routine questions around the 
class and questions directed to the individual, either 
singly or when a pupil stands to answer a dozen at a 
time, because they are not conducive to class interest 
and class attention. It avoids all plans that give the 
pupils an opportunity to send their minds away on a 



ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 67 

journey while their bodies remain in class. But by- 
appealing to each and to all, it demands attention and 
trains the habit of giving it. 

3. Skilful class management favors attention by a wise 
use of question and suggestion. The question is the right 
arm of the teacher's power. It challenges wavering 
attention, draws it and the deserter back to the point 
under consideration, directs the mind to the spot where 
it will be rewarded by what it discovers, and thus gives 
it renewed power to attend in that direction again. Sug- 
gestion is the flashlight thrown across the pathway of 
investigation just at the point where the child is trying to 
discover the thing sought. Good class management 
promotes attention by a skilful use of question and 
suggestion, and by telling the child at the right time the 
thing that should be known but which is not of suffi- 
cient value to reward him for its discovery by patient 
investigation. 

4. Skilful management invites attention and trains in the 
habit of giving it by change and variety. It avoids 
monotony and routine because they favor the growth of 
stupidity. It encourages variety and change because the 
normal mind is naturally attracted by them. It varies 
the method from question to topic, from oral to written, 
from individual to class, and keeps the mind constantly 
on the alert by flashing fresh truth upon it from unex- 
pected sources, and by surprising it with that which is 
new and novel and therefore full of interest. A change 
of position, a change of plan, a change of manner, a 
change of any kind, tends to arouse the mind, to keep 
the curiosity active, and to attract attention. Skilful 
management, by constant change and endless variety, 
surprises, attracts, interests, and pleases the mind 



68 THE RECITATION 

and thus invites attention and trains in the habit of 
giving it. 

The skilful teacher and the skilful manager always 
expect attention, and they generally get it. They compel 
it, not by arbitrary authority, but by a wise use of the 
natural means that secure it, and the wise regulations 
that promote it. Their efforts to get it are generally 
successful, and in turn they never fail to reward the mind 
that gives it. 

4. Ho^w to hold the attention "when once secured. 
Skilful presentation and skilful management are the 
main channels through which the influences operate 
that secure the attention of pupils. And they are just as 
helpful in holding it, because they give the mind what 
its nature demands, — food and exercise. 

(a) Enchain attention by giving the mind food. The 
mind is a living, growing organism. As such it 
demands nourishment, and knowledge is the staff of its 
life. Facts and their relations are the necessary food 
upon which it feeds. The teacher who would enchain 
attention must reward the mind with the natural nutri- 
ment its expanding life requires. In the mart of truth 
you cannot get something for nothing any more than in 
the mart of business. The mind that gives attention 
must have its reward in that which feeds it. And that 
food must be crisp and fresh. The teacher who thinks 
in the class-room, who warms the mental action of his 
Drinkin from P^P^^^ with hot thought fresh from a glowing 
a Fountain miud will be far more successful than the 
not a Tank. ^^^ ^^^ deals out glittering generalities that 
have long since lost their edge. The recitation should 
be a birthplace for living thought, not a morgue filled with 
dead thought. The real teacher is a fountain, not a tank. 



ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 69 

He holds the attention by giving living bread and living 
water. 

(b) Enchain attention by giving the mind suitable ex- 
ercise. Mind and body are mysteriously linked together. 
Exercise is as much the law of mental as it is of physical 
development. The normal mind cannot pause even for 
a moment without wandering. It must move. Hence 
exercise is as essential to its natural growth as food. 
The latter really occasions the former, and yet it is per- 
haps wise to regard them as separate requirements of 
mental growth. For it is possible to surfeit the mind 
with food in such a way as to call forth only feeble 
action instead of stimulating it to vigorous thought. To 
gain attention is simply to start this mental action ; and 
to hold it is to make this action continuous by keeping 
the mind actively engaged in noticing and discovering 
relations as it moves from point to point. 

The speaker who holds the attention of an audience 
gives his hearers something to do. They think with him, 
or rather after him from point to point, passing judgment 
upon his utterances, and assenting to, or dissenting from, 
his conclusions. He keeps their minds so busy in 
noticing and discovering the relations he points out, as 
the current of thought sweeps from point to related 
point, that they have no time to wander away after 
inviting solicitations into irrelevant fields. So the current 
of thought in a recitation must be kept moving briskly. 
The alert mind, that is constantly discovering, compar- 
ing, and concluding, has no time to spare in wandering 
away. The speaker who packs his address with rightly 
related thought, and who delivers it in a clear and 
forcible manner at a rate that keeps the minds of his 
audience busy, will in all probability be rewarded with 



70 THE RECITATION 

their close attention, because he rewards that attention 
by giving what it naturally seeks, — food and exercise. 
Pood and ^o the teacher who presents the related 

Exercise. poiuts In a subject clearly, forcibly, and 

briskly to his pupils will in all probability be rewarded 
by their close attention, because he rewards them with 
the mental food and that progression of thought which 
the normal mind demands. 

A recitation may be successful, or only partly so. 
It may be strong at some points and weak at others. 
But if it lacks interest and attention on the part of 
the pupils, it is an absolute failure at every point 
and has no redeeming quality whatever, because it 
is without the essential conditions that make instruc- 
tion possible. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 

I. — Interest. 

1. Natural. 

2. Acquired — Interest is acquired in a subject. 

(a) By seeing the old in the midst of the new. 
(6) By seeing the new in the midst of the old. 
(c) By seeing the utility of the new. 

II. — Attention. 

1. Classes of teachers with reference to the power to secure it. 

(a) Those who naturally possess the qualities that 

secure it. 

(b) Those who must acquire them. 

2. How not to secure attention. 

(<z) Not by military requirement. 

(b) Not by arbitrary command. 

(c) Not by earnest requests for it. 

(d) Not by punishment for withholding it. 

(e) Not by external rewards. 



ESSENTIALS OF THE RECITATION 71 

3. How to secure attention. 

(a) By skilful presentation of the subject matter. 

1. Skilful presentation works through interest. 

2. Skilful presentation appeals to the eye as 

well as to the ear. 

3. Skilful presentation uses illustrations. 

4. Skilful presentation works through the 

laws of acquired interest. 

(b) By skilful class management, 

1. Skilful management groups the class into 

small area. 

2. Skilful management appeals to all as well 

as to each pupil. 

3. Skilful management makes wise use of 

question and suggestion. 

4. Skilful management makes wise use of 

variety and change. 

4. How to hold the attention when once secured. 

(a) Enchain it by giving it mental food. 

(b) Enchain it by giving it appropriate exercise. 



PART I 

CHAPTER IV 

PREPARATION FOR THE RECITATION; 

or, 
THE ART OF STUDY 



study is creative power. 

LiLIENTHAL 

Teach the pupil the art of study, and everything besides be- 
comes easy to him. But to do this you must sometimes study 
with him, but not /or him. 

Sabin 

A well-made head is better than a head well-filled. 

Michel Montaigne 

You may have a good mind, a sound judgment, a vivid imag- 
ination, or a wide reach of thought and view, but you can never 
become distinguished without severe application. 

J. Todd 

Study opens the treasure-house of antiquity. 

ASHMOLE 

I will not be hindered from prosecuting my studies by all the 
gold in the world. 

Erasmus 



\ 
\ 



CHAPTER IV 

PREPARATION FOR THE RECITATION ; OR, THE ART OF 

STUDY 

The three foundations of learning are seeing much, suffering 
much, and studying much. — Catherall. 

" Thinking educates ; nothing else does." Teachers, 
schools, recitations, and books are valuable only as they 
stimulate and direct mental effort. The child may 
acquire some elemental knowledge through observation 
and attention almost without effort, but it is thought, and 
thought only, that really educates. 

Power is always acquired. It cannot be inherited or 
purchased, but is always the result of mental effort. 

To study is to think. It, therefore, educates. Through 
it the child may acquire both knowledge and power ; and 
the extent of his study is the most important factor in 
determining the extent of his acquisition. You cannot 
get something for nothing in the world of mind any more 
than you can in the world of money. The child who 
makes a vigorous and extended effort in study may not 
acquire as much as his talented companion, who comes 
to his task with inherited tendencies toward culture, and 
with a superior quality of brain fibre ; but an extended 
and vigorous effort will always give him larger returns 
than a short, feeble one. Study, then, may be regarded 
as one of the chief causes, and one of the safest measures 
of a student's ability. 

Study is not a lost art. It is, however, unpopular and 
somewhat neglected in some schools. The enlarged cur- 
riculum of the elementary school, and the short period of 

75 



76 THE RECITATION 

time in which the work must be done make the problem 
of study both important and difficult. The age demands 
of the child the mastery of a few subjects and a knowledge 
of many. Neither alone is sufficient. As a student his 
work must be both extensive and intensive. It is so easy 
to give the child a superficial knowledge of many things, 
and so difficult to make him master of a few, that super- 
ficiality rather than intensity is likely to be the chief char- 
acteristic of his habits of study. This end must be care- 
fully avoided ; for vigorous effort and intense study are 
the qualities that give the highest degree of power. 

I.— THE POSSIBILITY OF STUDY. 

Before proceeding to discuss this subject, it seems 
wise to state a few fundamental facts that make study 
possible. 

1, The Unity of Truth. All truth is a unit. Every 
fact is related, either intimately or remotely, to every 
other fact. The universe is a bundle of relations. It is 
also a unity of unities. Groups of facts closely related, 
and bound together by laws and principles, constitute a 
science. Each science has its own unity, and yet it is 
only a part of that greater unity that runs through the 
realm of truth, binding all into one complete whole. 
Through the powers of analysis and synthesis human 
Possibility of investigation has subdivided this great unity 
New Sciences. ^^^^ constructed miuor ones of intimately 
related knowledge. The number of sciences are multi- 
plying, and the possibilities in this line are boundless. 
The universe of truth stands as a challenge to human 
investigation. It is the infinite, unsolved problem of the 
ages. Each new discovery suggests the possibilities of 
others, and of minor unities whose principles are yet 



THE ART OF STUDY 77 

unknown and whose laws are yet to be formulated. But 
every advance in human knowledge, and every step in 
human progress, only testify anew to the infinity and the 
unity of the world of truth. 

2. The Mind may know these Relations. The mind 
was made for truth. It seeks its relations as the eye 
seeks the light. It has the inherent power to discover 
and understand them. To know is to discover, to in- 
terpret these relations and combine them into new uni- 
ties. The unity of truth and the mind's capacity to know 
are complementary. Each exists for the other. The 
one offers what the other seeks. It is evident that the 
finite mind can never fully comprehend the infinity of 
truth ; but it is equally evident that it can discover and 
know some of its relations. Indeed the greatest enjoy- 
ment and the chief employment of man are found in the 
exercise of this inherent power of the mind to seek, to 
discover, and to understand. 

3. Some of these Relations may be seen and known 
without a Conscious Effort. Some knowledge lies on 
the surface of truth. It reveals itself to the mind without 
a conscious effort. Early in life the child acquires a 
stock of these relations. Observation gathers uncon- 
sciously many simple facts, experience furnishes many 
more, and intuition supplies a vast amount of elemen- 
tary knowledge. We work with the power we have, and 
the mental store thus accumulated is the student's capital 
stock with which he begins business, and which he uses 
in the quest for those deeper truths that can be found 
and comprehended only by a long and vigorous self- 
directed effort. 

4. The Possibility of Study. The unity of truth, the 
capacity of the mind to know, and the accumulated store 



78 THE RECITATION 

of primary relations thus acquired, are very important. 
They make study, the self-directed effort of the mind to 
know, possible. If the unknown realm of truth is a unity 
of relations, if the mind has capacity to know them, and 
has an accumulated stock of similar relations to focus on 
the unknown in order to give it interpretation and place, 
the student may proceed at once to discover it, and trans- 
form the unknown into the known. "We learn with 
what we have," and if the mind had no stock with which 
to begin, the world of relations and the capacity to know 
them would be of little service. Each of these funda- 
mental facts, standing alone, is practically worthless ; 
but each gives value to the others, and their trinal rela- 
tions make study, learning, and education possible. 

n.— CONDITIONS OF EFFECTIVE STUDY. 

The conditions under which a child may do effective 
work in the preparation of a lesson may be considered 
under two heads : 1. The physical or objective condi- 
tions. 2. The mental or subjective conditions. 

1. The Physical or Objective Conditions. The phy- 
sical conditions necessary to effective study are as follows : 

(a) Good bodily health and comfort. 
(6) An abundance of pure air at the normal tempera- 
ture. 

(c) Freedom from noise and confusion. 

(d) Regular habits and hours for sleep, exercise, and 
study. 

The reasons for these essential conditions are so evi- 
dent that no discussion of them seems necessary. 

2. Mental or Subjective Conditions. The subjective 
conditions are just as important as the objective, and they 
are by far the most difficult to supply and regulate. 



THE ART OF STUDY 79 

(a) Interest in the subject. The first essential subjec- 
tive condition is interest. All study with young children 
must spring primarily from the interest they have in the 
lessons. To study is to examine, to inquire, to investi- 
gate ; to see, to understand and to classify. But no 
youthful, untrained student M^ill attend to or investigate 
a subject that does not incite his interest. ^ 

Intprf st trip 

Interest is the magnet that draws the mind Magnet of the 
into the investigation. It is that inherent ^^^*^- 
quality that truth possesses, the contemplation of which 
is agreeable and pleasant to the mind. Continuous in- 
terest in a lesson is the basis of a continuous applica- 
tion of the mind to it. After the will has been sufficiently 
developed it may aid in the work of effective study by 
compelling the mind to investigate subjects less inter- 
esting in themselves. But the youthful mind must be 
attracted towards the lesson by the beauty it sees, or the 
pleasure it feels in it. 

Interest is either natural or acquired. Natural interest, 
as we have seen, is due to that quality of truth which 
invites the child to examine it, and to the contemplation 
of that which it believes will reward it with feelings of 
satisfaction and pleasure. Acquired interest is the in- 
terest that the child feels for the moment in a subject 
naturally dry and uninteresting. It is due to the sudden 
discovery of some hitherto unseen quahty or relation 
which is sufficient to lead the child to acquire an interest 
in what was before unattractive and repellent. Both of 
these interests are important, and together they consti- 
tute the first fundamental condition of effective study, 
because they invite the mind to investigate and reward it 
by giving it that which pleases and gratifies. 

(b) Ability to study. Another subjective condition 



80 THE RECITATION 

essential to effective work in the preparation of a lesson 
is the ability to study. This is both a content and a 
power. An empty mind cannot acquire. As a content 
it needs a store of related truth with which to acquire 
and interpret the new thing. As a power, it must be 
.^.... . r, . able to concentrate itself upon the thing 

Ability to study ^ , ® 

as a Content Under Consideration to the exclusion of all 
and as a Power, ^j^^^ rpj^j^ j^ ^^^ accumulatcd strength re- 
sulting from similar efforts made in the past. The con- 
tent is the capital stock with which the mind works in 
the process of study, the power is the ability to apply 
this stock effectively in the process of knowing. Both 
are important and unite to form what may be termed 
the child's ability to study. This subjective condition is 
absolutely necessary, for it is obvious that the child can- 
not do that which he has no power to do. 

The objective conditions of study are passive, the sub- 
jective conditions are active. Both, however, are essen- 
tial. The one makes the external atmosphere favorable 
under which the other may act. 

m.— OBJECTS OF STUDY. 

There are three great objects of study which, in a man- 
ner, include all minor ones, and are in themselves suffi- 
cient for a complete discussion of the subject. 

1. A Well-Formed Mind. The chief purpose of study 
is to develop a well-formed mind. This means the 
capacity to act with skill, accuracy, and power in any 
given direction for a given time. It is the strength that 
comes from systematic effort. It means power to see, 
power to grasp, power to know, power to act, power to 
concentrate, power to apply, and power to execute. The 
well-formed mind sees clearly, thinks profoundly, reasons 



THE ART OF STUDY 81 

accurately, analyzes logically. It compares, classifies, and 
concludes with ease and facility. It makes observation 
accurate, memory exact, logic convincing, and appeal 
forceful. 

Discipline is better than knowledge. What a mind 
can contain is always important, but what it can do is far 
more vital. Discipline is the result of mental action. 
This action has two distinct phases : we acquire from 
without, and express from within. Each gives its cor- 
responding result in increased power, skill, and tendency 
to act again. Study is the self-directed effort of the mind 
to acquire and to express. It stirs both these phases of 
mental action, and thus becomes a valuable means of 
mental discipline. Knowledge that comes as the result 
of effort is valuable. But the well-formed mind with its 
discipline, its skill, and its power, is more valuable, and 
must be regarded as a most important object of study. 

It is to be noted that the discipline that comes from the 
study of any branch is of two kinds, — special and general. 
The former is the power to pursue that study 

■^ '' Special and 

or others closely allied to it. The study of General 
algebra, for instance, gives a special power r>iscipiine. 
to pursue that study and to grasp closely related mathe- 
matical studies. The latter, or general discipline, that 
comes from the work in any branch, is the general power 
of the mind that may be applied effectively in any 
direction. 

Modern psychology asserts that this special discipline, 
resulting from any mental effort, is far in excess of the 
general. Evidence of this may be found on every hand. 
An individual rarely excels by reason of superior disci- 
pline in more than one or two special fields. Superior 
attainment in one line is no guarantee of ability in others 



82 THE RECITATION 

unless they are closely allied. If the general discipline 
was equal to the special, we should find every strong mind 
in one field equally strong in its power to master others. 

The discipline, then, of the well-formed mind is com- 
posed not so much of the general ability that comes from 
the study of a few branches, as from the special power 
that comes from the study of many. " No study, or no 
single group of studies," says the late Dr. Hinsdale, 
" contains the possibilities of a whole education." It is 
true that the mastery of a few branches is better than a 
smattering of many ; but it is equally true that the mas- 
Dr. Hinsdale tery of many is better than the mastery of a 
Quoted. fg^^ fi^Q ^jjj^g ^^g "vvhen the regular classical 

course of the college was regarded as sufficient for all the 
demands of life. But that day is past. The modern uni- 
versity, in striving to build the well-formed mind, offers 
instead a large variety of special courses ; and the trend 
in public schools is towards an enlarged and an enriched 
curriculum. Domestic science and manual training, and 
indeed every branch that dem_ands recognition in the 
schools, only emphasizes the importance of a well-formed 
mind as an aim in all school work, and each is willing to 
rest its case on what it can contribute to that end. 

An important phase of this discipline is the power of 
self-help. Study is learning through a self-directed 
effort. This effort may be somewhat imposed at first, 
but it leads to self-imposed effort, and finally to self-help. 
Through this effort at self-help the student develops the 
sturdy virtues of self-reliance, self-respect, and the power 
study leads to ^^ independent thought and action, and steps 
Self-help. out iuto life a "self-poised, self-contained, 

self-impelled, and self-controlled man."" It is this power 
of self-help Dr. Schaeffer has in mind when he says, 



THE ART OF STUDY 83 

'*The aim of the teacher should be to make himself 
useless." 

Study through self-help develops in the individual the 
power of initiative. This is the power to introduce, to 
start, to suggest, or to propose. It is the ability to see 
and to do in a good way what ought to be done without 
suggestion or direction from others. 

This power of initiative includes four factors : insight, 
suggestion, plan, and execution. It sees conditions, 
recognizes the needs, and plans and applies the remedy. 
These elements are of vital importance in the make-up 
of a man. In medicine they produce the skilful phy- 
sician ; in law, the forceful attorney ; in governmental 
affairs, the great statesman ; in war, the great general ; 
in commerce, the great business man ; and in the field 
of industry, the great inventor. 

The process of study analyzed, reveals almost the iden- 
tical elements found in initiative. Insight is the power 
of acute observation, of deep penetration, of accurate 
discernment, of quick perception, and of study is the 
correct induction in the mind's effort to ^^^^ 

Exercising its 

know. Study, through the grasp of existing Power of 
conditions, sees what to do, and how to plan thrActToV^ 
and execute. Indeed, it is simply the effort knowing. 
of the mind to exercise its power of initiative in the act 
of knowing. And since " we learn to do by doing," 
study trains this power of initiative by exercising it. 

Study through self-help not only develops this power 
of initiative, but it also leads to self-culture. The 
school's world of truth is a small one. It reveals only 
the. beginnings of knowledge and simply prepares the 
mind for what it may do. Life is a larger school. The 
facts of nature, the laws of science, the rules of ethics, 
6 



84 THE RECITATION 

and the principles of human action touch and teach in 
the most practical way all who will learn. But from 
the realm of recorded thought, as embedded in books, a 
realm as vast, as broad, as deep, and as rich as it is 
inviting, little can be acquired after leaving school except 
through the power of study. Persistent application is 
the great instrument of self-culture. Through it the 
individual may grasp the keys that will open to him the 
very treasure-house of truth. 

It develops self-reliance and self-control, trains the 
power of initiative, and opens and controls the gateway 
to self-culture. 

Study helped Grote, as he counted pennies in a broker^s 
office, to gather and recount the facts that made a great 
history. It made Michael Faraday, as he 
ttTe Domains workcd as a bookbindcr, one of the greatest 
of Culture explorcrs and discoverers in the realm of 
science that the world has ever known. It 
enabled Henry Wilson, as he stretched uppers in a shoe- 
shop, to fit himself for the vice-presidency of the United 
States. It prepared Abraham Lincoln, as he split rails and 
read law, to see the iniquity of slavery and finally to receive 
the gratitude of an emancipated race and the plaudits of 
humanity. It trained Hugh Miller, as he trimmed stone 
in the quarry, to read and write in terms of geology the 
great story of the rocks. It raised John Bright from the 
factory floor of a cotton-mill to the front rank of British 
statesmen. It made Elihu Burrett, as he hammered 
horseshoes in an old shop in Connecticut, the greatest 
linguist of his day, perhaps the greatest of all time. And 
what study has done in the matter of self-help and cul- 
ture, study can do again. It will enable the clerk in the 
store, the business man in the office, the farmer in the 



THE ART OF STUDY 85 

field, and the mechanic at the bench, to master some 
field of truth, to feed the virtues of self-reliance and self- 
control, to develop the power of initiative, and to slake 
self's thirst at the living fountains of culture. And all 
this discipline and power of self-help are included in what 
we have designated as the first great object of study, — a 
well formed mind. 

2. A Well-flUed Mind. The second object of study is 
a well-filled mind. Education is not merely a matter of 
discipline ; it is also a process of nutrition. The mind is 
an organism that grows. It must, therefore, be fed, and 
knowledge is its natural and necessary nourishment. 
Knowledge is as much, though not as important, an 
object of study as discipline. Knowledge is not power, 
but rather the necessary material with which the mind 
exercises itself in the development of power. Neither 
discipline alone, nor knowledge alone, but rather discipline 
through knowledge is the immediate aim of study. They 
are complementary factors, each rendering its best service 
through the aid of the other. An engine is of little value 
without fuel ; so the strong mind, to be efficient in its 
service, needs the fuel of facts. The direct effort of study 
is knowledge, but the result of that effort is both knowledge 
and discipline. And while the latter is to be regarded 
as superior to the former, yet each is nevertheless an 
important object of study. 

3. A "Well-rounded Character, Knowledge and dis- 
cipline are both of vital importance, but the great aim of 
study is character. Emerson says, " Character is more 
than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well 
as strong to act." Manhood is better than intelligence, 
virtue is above culture, goodness is superior to greatness, 
and the soul outranks the intellect as the gold outranks 



86 THE RECITATION 

the dross. The supreme end of all education is char- 
acter; and since study is the chief means that contributes 
to that end, it becomes its highest aim. 

But while character is the great aim of study, it comes 
to the student only in an indirect way. Study is hard work. 
It develops patience, perseverance, courage, self-reliance 
and self-respect. It forms habits of industry, system, 
and regularity. It reveals truth, and the revelation 
exalts and ennobles. From a contemplation of truth it 
lifts the mind to a contemplation of the Author of all 
truth. All this reacts upon the student and helps to 
clothe him with the sum total of those rich vestments 
which the world calls character. 

Knowledge, discipline, character, are the three educa- 
tional graces. They constitute the triple crown of man- 
The Three hood, and the trinal unity of an ideal Kfe. 
Educational The true aim of study, like the true aim of 
education, then, is not the enthronement of 
any one of them, but of all, in the individual. 

IV.— THE PHILOSOPHY OP STUDY. 

1. The Act of Study Defined. To learn is to acquire 
knowledge and through it power and skill. The act of 
learning may be occasioned either with or without the 
aid of a teacher. To study is to acquire knowledge and 
its resultant power without the help of a teacher. The 
act of studying differs but little from the act of learning. 
The act of teaching involves the efforts of two persons, — 
the teacher and the taught. The teacher points out the 
relations and leads the child to see and comprehend 
them. The act of study involves the effort of but one 
person. Unaided the student explores the field of truth, 
tries to discover its facts and their relations, strives to 



i 



THE ART OF STUDY 87 

understand them and to formulate their laws and princi- 
ples. If to study is to learn without the aid of a teacher, 
it is evident that the philosophic act of study is closely 
allied to that of learning. 

2. The Process of Study Explained. There are three 
well-defined stages in the process of learning, corre- 
sponding to the laws of mind and the laws of teaching, 
and each is a distinct stage in the process of study. 

(a) The stage of apprehension. This is the stage in 
which the mind of the student surveys the field and 
grasps in its entirety the thing to be known. In the 
teaching process it answers to the act of unit-presenta- 
tion. The mind inspects the thing to be known as a 
whole, a complete thing, an individual unit, and tries to 
know it as such. You apprehend when you know a 
thing as an individual unit. You comprehend it only at 
a later stage, when you know it in its parts and in their 
relations, and in the relations it sustains to other things. 
To apprehend is to perceive. The mental product, then, 
of this stage of the process is the percept. This percept 
is the result of a mental view of the thing to be known 
as a whole. The mind first deals with aggregates, just 
as the eye sees the whole of an object before it looks for 
parts and their relations. This stage of perception or 
apprehension is the stage in which the mind asks for and 
receives its food in a unified form. It apprehends or 
knows something of the thing to be known ; but it has 
not yet reached the stage of comprehension that gives a 
more intimate and complete knowledge of it, when the 
mind relates the thing to the world of truth of which it 
is a part. 

(6) The stage of comprehension. The second stage in 
the process of study is the stage of comprehension. To 



88 THE RECITATION 

comprehend is to conceive. The mental product, then, 
of this stage is the concept. In it the mind takes the 
percepts already apprehended, and proceeds by way of 
analysis to separate them into their elements and to note 
their relations. Its knowledge is far more intimate, com- 
prehensive, and complete, because it sees 

Comprelien- < i j? r m • xi i r 

sion gives ^ot ouly lacts as units, as in the stage of 

Definite apprehension, but it also knows them in their 

Knowledge. 

parts and relations. Each part stands out 
from all others as a distinct thing, and yet it is related in 
some way to the others. The vague, indefinite notion 
obtained by apprehending a thing in its unity is replaced 
by a knowledge that is clear, definite, accurate, and de- 
tailed, gained by an examination of a small part rather 
than the unit. The new knowledge thus acquired is 
united to the mind's previous possessions by the process 
of assimilation. Thus the mind works up its percepts 
into concepts by a twofold process. It analyzes to see 
and understand relations, and then by synthesis proceeds 
to unitize them. 

Comprehension is pre-eminently an apperceptive pro- 
cess. It includes interpretation, discrimination, gener- 
alization, and assimilation. To apperceive is to think 
into unity the mind's experiences, new and old. It 
constructs into organic wholes the mind's data, past and 
present. In the stage of comprehension the mind not 
only acquires larger, better, richer stores of related truth, 
but it reorganizes the old and the new into related 
wholes. 

(c) The stage of application. There are two views of 
knowledge, — the cultural and the practical. The one 
regards knowledge as an end, the other as a means ; the 
one prizes it as a possession, the other as an instrument ; 



THE ART OF STUDY 89 

the one produces the learned man, the other the useful 
man. The student who accepts the former ideal, who 
prizes truth only for its cultural value, who The utilitarian 
seeks profound learning and great erudition acquires that 
simply for the pleasure of knowing, will prob- 
ably end his investigations with the stage of comprehen- 
sion. Not so with the utilitarian. He seeks to see how 
he may apply his acquisitions to the problems of life, and 
thus become a useful member of society. 

Neither of these two ideals of knowledge is complete 
in itself. Together they form the complete purpose of 
acquired truth. Money locked in a vault is safe, but 
not serviceable ; and truth to be practical must be ser- 
viceable. Knowledge as an end is not sufficient. 
Knowledge of grammar is good, but ability to apply that 
knowledge is far better. A knowledge of the rules and 
principles of ethics is valuable, but the application of 
them to human action is far more desirable. The world 
needs not only educated men, but wise and useful men 
as well. " The educated man is a tank ; the wise man 
is a spring." The water in the former may be dead and 
stagnant, but the latter is a living fountain from which an 
upward marching race must always drink. Human 
progress is the result, not of knowledge alone, but of 
knowledge applied, of truth transmuted into wisdom. 

In this stage of the process of study the student is not 
satisfied with mere comprehension. He asks, How 
may I apply this knowledge to advantage ? How may I 
make it an instrument for good ? How may I use my 
acquired power in the highest interests of the race? 
How may I become a practical, useful member of 
society ? 

Our educational systems are weakest at this point. 



90 THE RECITATION 

They furnish the standards, but give Kttle ability to use 
them. Thousands have a knowledge of English, but 
only one in a million can speak v^ith ease, elegance, flu- 
la s ^^^Ji force, and accuracy. Practice always 
behind lags far behind knowledge. If all men prac- 

Enowiedge. ^-^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ preach, if they used what 

they know, if they applied what they understand, human 
progress instead of crawling as a snail would soar as an 
eagle, the race would be Ufted to a thousand thrones of, 
almost infinite power, and a thousand royal crowns of 
character would deck the worthy brows of kingly men 
and queenly women. 

Realf, inspired by the marvellous application of the 
facts of science to the industries of his native city, sings 
thus in his Hymn to Pittsburg : 

' ' I am monarch of all the forges, 

I have solved the riddle of fire. 
The amen of Nature to the good of man 

Cometh at my desire. 
I search with subtle soul of flame 

The heart of the hidden earth ; 
And from under my hammers the prophecies 

Of the miracle years go forth. 
I am swart with the soot of chimneys, 

I drip with the sweat of toil, 
I quell and quench the savage wastes, 

And charm the curse from the soil. 
I fling the bridges across the gulfs 

That separate us from the to be ; 
And I build the roads of the bannered hosts 

Of crowned humanity." 

And this marvellous progress of crowned humanity in 
every industrial field, as suggested in the poet's song, is 



THE ART OF STUDY 91 

due, not to the apprehension or even the comprehension 
of knowledge, but rather to its apphcation. 

To study is to learn without help. It is a self-learn- 
ing process. Its keywords are apprehension, compre- 
hension, and application. In the first stage the mind 
acquires elemental knowledge and works it into per- 
cepts ; in the second it acquires more accurate and com- 
plete knowledge and thinks it into concepts, judgments, 
and conclusions ; in the third it seeks to make its acqui- 
sitions practical, valuable, helpful, and useful to the race. 

v.— HOW NOT TO STUDY. 

1. Do not attempt to Study by Idly reading* over 
the Subject Matter while the Mind is dwelling" upon 
something else. All such efforts will fail. Study is an 
act of the mind, not of the lips. And yet children often 
fall into this habit when they try to force the mind to 
study a lesson that is devoid of interest to them. The 
eye that tries to examine two objects at once sees 
neither; so the mind cannot give attention to two 
things at a time. Attention, the essential condition of 
study, is partial and all-exclusive. It shuts out every- 
thing else in the whole realm of truth, while the mind is 
investigating the point at issue. And yet the mind may, 
in a mechanical way, see and say the words of the lesson, 
and perhaps get a hazy glimpse of an idea occasionally, 
while it is partially considering some other subject. But 
such efforts should not be tolerated ; for study is the 
earnest, undivided application of th6 mind to the lesson. 

2. Do not attempt to Study by memorizing the 
Text. Knowledge is a matter of ideas, not words. The 
evidence of effective study is a comprehension of the 
text, not the ability to repeat it. Studying and memoriz- 



92 THE RECITATION 

ing are processes essentially different. The one deals 
with thought, the other with words ; the one with con- 
tent, the other with form ; the one uses the mind, the 
other the memory. Truth dwells not in words except 
when tented on the printed page, or when it soars from 
^r . ... soul to soul on the wingrs of expression. It 

Words are the ° ^ 

Tents in which enters the human mind as ideas rather than 

Ideas dwell. ^^^^^^ j^^ j^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^j^ ^^^ ^^^^^ 

husks, the transparent cabinets in which one mind ships 
its ideas to another. And the cabinet must be so trans- 
parent to the child that he can see the idea that it con- 
veys. Some truth may occasionally he swallowed 
whole, casket and gem, but in study it is best, as Bacon 
suggests, to chew and digest it. 

Studying, then, is not memorizing the text. And yet 
this is what most children attempt to do when a text- 
book in geography, history, grammar, or physiology is 
first placed in their hands. So prevalent is this false 
notion of study that probably eighty per cent, of the chil- 
dren in the elementary school use it and it alone. As a 
result their stock in trade is words. But the food of the 
mind is truth, not its empty husks. 

VI.— HOW TO STUDY. 

Emerson says, "Each mind has its own method.'' 
This is true, and yet in a general way all minds are 
similar and follow to some extent the same general plan ; 
for unity in diversity is just as prominent as diversity in 
unity in the great realm of nature. And while each 
mind may have some individual characteristics, yet some 
general suggestions applicable to all may be offered. 

1. Read the Lesson over carefully and thoug-htfully 
as a Whole. Try to discover its Leading Thought. 



THE ART OF STUDY 93 

It is a link in the chain of instruction. It is not only a 
link but an essential part of the chain. It has, there- 
fore, a unity of its own, and at the same time it is a part 
of the greater unity that binds together a series of 
lessons on any subject. Try to fmd this unity of the 
subject. See what this link is, what it adds to the chain, 
and how it is joined to what precedes it. 

This examination of the lesson as a unit corresponds 
somewhat to the stage of apprehension in the learning 
process. The mind first demands wholes or aggregates 
before it proceeds to analyze them, and in this examina- 
tion it looks for them. 

2. Concentrate the Mind upon the Lesson -with a 
Purpose of understanding" it. Focus the supply of 
related facts already learned upon the new thing with a 
determination to interpret it. Bring the analytic power 
of the mind to bear upon the lesson in an attempt to 
separate it into parts. This effort tends to make vague 
knowledge definite. It reveals parts and their relations 
of similarity and difference, and thus gives the mind 
more intimate and accurate knowledge, because it has 
descended from its examination of units to 3^^^ to 

their analytic parts and relations. Examine ^^^^^ ^ Lesson. 
each part critically with a view of discovering other 
possible subdivisions and their relations. Truth now 
stands out clearly, because the mind has contracted the 
range of its view, and, therefore, intensified its power to 
see. Unitize closely related truths into groups, and 
make a rude outline of the lesson facts. Each discovered 
idea is thus tied to its closest relation and stored for 
future use. 

Scrutinize principles, statements, definitions, and essen- 
tial parts of the text critically until they are understood. 



94 THE RECITATION 

Examine maps, charts, and other texts that will aid in 
getting a clear comprehension of the facts. Turn on 
every side-light possible and strive to see the lesson 
clearly, accurately, and definitely in its parts and their 
relations, and in the groups into which you have united 
them. 

This effort at study corresponds in a measure to the 
stage of comprehension in the learning process. It gives 
the mind an enlarged stock of intimate and exact knowl-, 
edge, clearly comprehended and carefully classified, in 
suitable form for easy retention and ready reproduction. 

3. Seek to know what the Pact is, what the Fact 
means, and what the Fact teaches. Each of these 
three view-points is important. The first appeals to 
the memory, the second challenges the understanding, 
and the third reflects itself in character. The first and 
Know what sccoud Operate through apprehension and 
the Facts are, comprcheusion and tend to produce the 
^VJ^^A nian of culture and erudition. The second 

mean, and 

what they and third act through comprehension and 
application and tend to produce not only the 
man of profound learning, but also of wisdom, character, 
and utility. And not one of these qualities alone, but 
rather the union of all in the individual, is the true aim 
of education. 

The student who would utilize his time and energy to 
best advantage in study, and at the same time make 
it contribute to the true end in life, should strive to 
know the facts of a lesson, to understand them, and to 
abstract from them the great underlying truths that 
build into character. To know and to understand are 
valuable acquisitions ; but to draw from any lesson its 
practical and moral principles, and to incorporate them 



THE ART OF STUDY 95 

into a life of character and usefulness, should be the 
highest aim of every student. 

4. The suggestions of Jacotot, as presented by Mr. 
Payne, are worthy of careful consideration. They are 
summed up in the four words : /earn, verify^ repeat^ and 
reflect. It may be wise to glance at each separately. 

(a) Learn. The first step is to learn the facts of a 
lesson. The student must grasp them firmly and know 
them accurately. This does not throw much light on 
the process of learning, but it emphasizes its importance. 
The student must know something of the facts, and even 
if the knowledge is at first general, indefinite, and vague, 
it will at least serve as a basis for reflection. 

Learning the facts in some of the earlier systems of 
education was scarcely equivalent to knowing them in 
our phraseology. Learning was then a matter Learning was 
of memorizing rather than knowing. It Memorizing 
appealed to the memory rather than to the earlier systems 
understanding. But to know the subject of Education, 
matter of a lesson clearly or vaguely, intimately or 
remotely, is of first importance to every student. To 
learn in Jacotot's method was the first step, and answers 
in a general way to the stage of apprehension. 

(6) Reflect. The second step is to reflect upon the 
facts apprehended. Emerson says, "The hardest task 
in the world is to think." It consumes the vitality and 
exhausts the energy of both brain and body. And this 
is the task that the student faces at this point. But it 
has its rewards, subjective and objective ; and its highest 
reward is mental power. This is what Vincent means 
when he says " Knowledge is best that comes by hard 
effort, and it is best because of that effort, and not be- 
cause of the knowledge." Spurgeon has this difficulty 



96 THE RECITATION 

of effort in mind when he suggests that " He who Avould 
have the crow's eggs must climb the tree." Thinking is 
hard work, but it brings its reward in honor as well as 
in power, for 

' ' Only thinkers wear the laurels 
On the mountain-tops of fame. ' ' 

This step corresponds, in part at least, to the stage of 
comprehension in the learning process in which the 
mind works its percepts into concepts. 

(c) Verify. Statement may not be fact. Evidence 
may not be authentic. Testimony may not be correct. 
It is wise, therefore, to verify statements, to confirm evi- 
dence, to substantiate testimony. As the sun dispels the 
mist, so error vanishes in the presence of verification. 
And verification to-day on the part of the student is just 
as important as ever. The eager student will verify truth 
by referring it to other tests, by consulting higher authori- 
ties, by going to original sources, and by the merciless 
judgment of facts and figures, and the cold logic of 
analysis and thought. Such substantiation is desirable 
for many reasons : 

1. It establishes the truth. 

2. It gives the mind a clearer and broader conception 
of it. 

3. It fixes it more firmly. 

4. It makes the mind strong and cautious in investiga- 
tion. 

5. It gives the self-reliance that springs from positive 
knowledge. 

6. It makes truth and reason the standards of judg- 
ment. 

{d) Repeat. The purpose of this in the method under 
discussion is to fix firmly in the mind its acquisitions. 



THE ART OF STUDY 97 

The early schemes of education unduly emphasized the 
importance of memory-training to the neglect of the un- 
derstanding. There is danger to-day of swinging too far 
to the other extreme. The memory and the understand- 
ing are both important. The gun is useless without the 
ammunition. The engine is helpless without the* fuel. 
The army is hopeless without its provisions. So without 
memory the strongest mind is useless. Fact is fuel in 
the engine of thought. And the strong mind must have 
linked to it a store-house of fact that will supply it at any 
moment with the exact material needed. 

Modern investigation has added much to our knowl- 
edge, and modern methods to our efficiency. But they 
have not rebuked the wisdom of these old-time sugges- 
tions. Every thoughtful student learns the facts. If 
there are doubts, he verifies those facts, and then reflects 
upon them. He verifies his conclusions with the highest 
standards at his command, and then strives to fix firmly 
in his mind both the facts and the conclusions. 

Vn.— THE UNPREPARED IN THE RECITATION. 

In every well-regulated school there will occasionally 
be found a few pupils who either neglect or refuse to 
make suitable preparation or for some reason come to 
the class unprepared. In schools that lack systematic 
organization, wise management, and skilful instruction, 
the number often exceeds a few. But, regardless of the 
number, they may be divided generally into two classes. 

1. Those who could prepare, but do not. 

2. Those who would prepare, but cannot. 

1. Those who could prepare, but do not. This class 
includes all those pupils who have the necessary power 
to prepare, but are prevented in some way from exer- 



98 THE RECITATION 

cising it. The essential conditions of study may be 
wanting, and others may interfere, and thus aid in send- 
ing the pupils to the recitation unprepared. 

(a) Poor health may keep a child from study. There 
Great Minds in ^^^ some iustauccs whcre a strong mind in a 
Frail Bodies, f^ail body has accomplished great results in 
the domain of investigation. Pope's mind was vigorous 
though his body was feeble. Alexander H. Stephens, in 
spite of physical weakness, was a great power in the 
Senate ; so was Thaddeus Stevens, the great Commoner, 
in the House. Grant faced death and physical infirmity, 
while, with peerless power of concentration, he wrote 
his " Memoirs." But these are exceptions. Such work 
is possible only with persons highly trained in the art of 
study, or with those backed by an unbending will. But 
in the ordinary school, and especially with children, it is 
idle to expect vigorous mental effort if vigor of body is 
lacking. Good bodily health, then, is the first requisite 
of all who would do effective work in the preparation of 
a lesson. 

(b) The lack of bodily comfort may prevent a student 
from doing effective work. He may be too warm or too 
cold. He may lack a sufficient supply of fresh air to 
support vigorous mental action. If the preparation is 
made in the school-room, teachers and directors may 
regulate the conditions that contribute to bodily com- 
fort. If it is done in the home, it becomes a question 
for parents. But success in either case will depend 
almost as much upon the student's bodily comfort as 
upon his health. 

(c) Noise and confusion may prevent a student from 
making effective preparation. Emerson says, " I envy the 
abstractions of some scholars I have known, who could 



THE ART OF STUDY 99 

sit on a curbstone in State Street, put up their back, and 
solve their problem . . . All the conditions must be 
right for my success, slight as that is." And Environment 
years ago in London, Carlyle, Dickens, a Hindrance 
Tennyson, and Browning were so annoyed ° ^' 
in their w^ork that they signed petitions against the license 
to organ-grinders w^ho visited the streets near their 
homes to levy blackmail on them. Occasionally one 
finds a man with well-developed power of concentration 
whose mind is the ready servant of the will, and who, 
impelled by an absorbing purpose, can apply himself to 
the work at hand regardless of unfavorable environment. 
If the great masters named above could not do so, the 
individual who can is not easily found. How then can 
we expect the child, with little power of concentration, 
and with feeble habits of study, to do good work, unless 
the external conditions are favorable. His mind must 
be free from all noise and confusion, and from every cause 
that will disturb and distract it. 

(d) Lack of time may prevent the j)upil from making 
efective preparation. This may he due to many causes : 

1. The student may be attempting to carry so many 
branches that he has not sufficient time for preparation 
in all, and intensity is, therefore, sacrificed for super- 
ficiality. This condition exists in some schools. The 
enlarged curriculum should not be permitted to make 
impossible demands upon the child. 

2. So much time may be given to the work of reciting 
that there is little time left for preparation. When a 
class is not making suitable progress, the teacher is likely 
to extend the time of the recitation in order to give more 
help. This curtails the time of the study period. This 
condition is found in upper grammar grades and in high 

Lora ^ 



100 THE RECITATION 

schools where the teachers have charge of but one class. 
In grades of two classes, each class has half the time for 
study. 

3. Such social claims may be made upon the child 
outside the school as will leave him little time for study. 
This is a matter for the consideration of parents. But 
in such cases the teacher should endeavor to rescue the 
child from such social slavery and from the inanity of 
its parents. Right effort is the only true 

Effort as the „ i . . * 

Law of measure of an education. As you give 

Acquired effort, in the same measure shall you receive 

Power. ' '' 

power. This is the law, and parents should 
know it. They should know that the social butterfly 
is rarely a scholar, not perhaps for lack of ability, but 
for lack of effort. 

(e) The absence of regular habits of study and regular 
hours of sleep and exercise may prevent a pupil from mak- 
ing effective preparation. Habit is the result of practice, 
and regularity and system in practice give rapidity to 
its growth and capacity to its effort. Persistent effort 
wisely directed at regular intervals soon forms correct 
and efficient habits of study. Teachers can do much 
to form this habit by requiring systematic effort at regu- 
lar periods. Vigor of mind, as we have observed, 
depends to some extent upon vigor of body, and both 
are greatly affected by the child's regular hours of sleep 
and exercise, during which the brain-cells are recharged 
with vital energy. Regular hours of sleep, exercise, and 
study are, therefore, conducive to the child's best effort 
in preparation. 

(/) Then there is a small number who could prepare^ but 
will not. They seem to live outside the influences that 
ordinarily lead to effective study. They evade the 



THE ART OF STUDY 101 

tactics of slipshod management and hap-hazard teach- 
ing, and occasionally worry the wisest and the best of 
teachers. The springs of interest seem closed, the 
desires of ambition are hushed, the electric wires of 
inspiration are beyond the touch. This class, however, 
is exceedingly small, and when a teacher has exhausted 
all his power upon them there is left but two alterna- 
tives, — endurance or removal. 

There is still some human drudgery in the world. The 
iron-ribbed giants of steam and of steel have not mon- 
opolized everything in their field. They may never do 
so. And the mere human drudge, the physical engine 
without intelligence and its inherent powers. Living on the 
may always be able, in competition with cmmbs. 
these steel-clad giants, to eke out a miserable existence 
in the lowest sub-cellar of the industrial world, and live 
on the crumbs that fall from the well-laden tables at 
which he might have occupied a seat. 

ijg) There are some pupils who do not prepare because 
they lack interest in the lesson. This class may be reached 
and helped through the laws of acquired interest. 

2. Those who -would prepare, but cannot. This 
class includes all those pupils who are anxious and will- 
ing to study, but who for some reason lack the power. 
They take the time and make the effort, but accomplish 
little. Their failure may be due to one of three causes 
or perhaps to all. 

(a) Some pupils cannot study because they lack the fund 
of related ideas necessary to the examination and interpre- 
tation of the subject matter of the new lesson. The child 
learns with what he has. As money earns money, so 
truth acquires truth. An empty mind cannot acquire. 
It is entirely passive. It has a great capacity to be filled, 



102 THE RECITATION 

but no power with which to do the work. The pupil, 
An Empty then, whose mind is empty along the line of 
Mind cannot the subject matter to be known may give 
acquire. ^.^^^ ^^^ effort to the act of study, and yet 

accomplish very little. 

(b) Some pupils cannot study because they lack the power 
of concentration. The mind must not only have some- 
thing with which to acquire and interpret new truth ; it 
must also be able to take that acquired stock and con- 
centrate it upon the new thing. Concentration is the 
power of the mind to fix what it has on what it wants. 
It helps the mind to get what it wants with what it has. 
Study is the act of knowing through the use of what we 
know, and through the power that comes from that use. 
And the pupil who lacks the power to concentrate his 
mind upon the subject, like the pupil who lacks the fund 
of similar facts, will get little from the study of a lesson 
regardless of the time he gives to it and the effort he 
makes. 

(c) The7'e is also a class of students who would prepare 
the lessons, but cannot^ because the work is too difficult for 
them. Their fund of related fact and their power of con- 
centration are insufficient for the work at hand. They 
are the victims of poor judgment in classification, and 
the remedy in all such cases is better judgment. Such 
errors in classification are moral wrongs as well as intel- 
The Child's lectual blunders. For it is the child's right 
Right in to be in the class that will give him the 
c assification. ]^jg]^gg|. ^j^^ ^iest rctum for his time and 

effort. More blunders, however, are made in classifying 
children below rather than above their capacity for a 
certain grade of work. 



THE ART OF STUDY 103 



Vm.— -WHAT TO DO WITH THE UNPREPARED. 

What to do with the unprepared in the recitation is a 
problem as difficult as it is important, and as practical as 
it is difficult. It is not possible to answer this question 
fully, for some failures are inexpKcable. In spite of the 
best methods of collection there are some losses through 
delinquents in the business world. So there will pos- 
sibly be some losses through delinquents in the recita- 
tion, even when managed by the most skilful. But they 
may, and should be reduced to the minimum. Many 
failures to prepare are the result of causes easily discov- 
ered and in some cases easily removed. And the re- 
moval of the cause is the fundamental method in many 
instances of effecting a remedy. 

1. With reference to those who could prepare, but do 
not, two suggestions seem wise : 

(a) Remove the cause. This is not always easily done. 
Bodily discomfort, noise and confusion, lack of time, 
and the absence of regular habits of study and regular 
hours for sleep and exercise will in time yield to the 
tact, force, and insight of the wise executive, the re- 
sourceful manager, and the efficient teacher. 

(6) Expect preparation. Insist upon it. Demand it. 
Never teach without it. Children are good judges of 
human nature, and many will not work if they can 
evade it. But in most cases they will yield if it becomes 
necessary. There is generally only one balky horse 
among many, and it is often the result of poor manage- 
ment. Under the care of a skilful driver the trouble is 
frequently removed. So teachers are sometimes to 
blame if lessons are not prepared. The efforts of the 
pupils will not rise above the expectations of the teacher. 



104 THE RECITATION 

Social claims and unfavorable conditions yield to the 
teacher who will not yield to them. Most children will 
finally do just what the requirements demand. 

2. But with reference to that other class who would, 
but cannot, study, the treatment is very different. If 
the child lacks the power to study, very little will be 
accomplished by the reassignment of lessons or by the 
rigid demands of the teacher. The cause in such case 
Subjective IS subjectivc, uot objective, and will there- 
Causes. ^^j.^ j^g found more difficult of removal. 

Some general suggestions, however, may be made that 
will prove helpful. 

(a) Let oral instruction in a subject new or difficult pre- 
cede hook study. This is very important at that part of 
the course where the child is to begin the study of the 
text in history, geography, grammar, or physiology. This 
oral instruction gives him a working stock of acquired 
truth and some power to use it in the examination of 
the text. This instruction should be based as much as 
possible upon sense-perception. Ideas precede words. 
This is the law. The child should see, hear, handle, and 
examine ; that is, get its percepts through the senses 
until conception is possible without sense-perception. It 
is difficult for the child to get concepts from the book 
unless he has a stock of ideas on the same subject. 
It is wise then, with young children, to have oral instruc- 
tion pave the way to text-book study. And if the lessons 
are difficult, and the pupil not well equipped for the art 
of study, the same rule applies in any grade. 

(6) Study the lesson with the pupils during the recitation. 
The purpose of this is to train them how to study. This 
may be done with all, or with that part of the class that 
has failed to make suitable preparation. In the latter 



THE ART OF STUDY 105 

case, the bright pupils who know the lesson because of 
thorough preparation may be excused and assigned 
other work. To study the lesson with the delin- 
quents is a valuable exercise. It gives them a body 
of ideas and fundamental facts about it. It will also 
develop the power to use the mind and this body 
of facts in its unaided effort to investigate and know, 
and thus help to train the children into right habits of 
study. 

(c) Have frequent study recitations for the express pur- 
pose of training the children how to study. In such cases 
the pupils have the text open before them. The teacher 
guides the effort of the class. Questions are asked, and 
the pupils are directed to that part of the text that either 
contains or suggests the answer. Suggestions are made, 
hidden truths are revealed, lines of investi- Training the 
gation pointed out, leading thoughts exam- ^^^^^ ^° study. 
ined, causes investigated, results anticipated, analytic 
parts discovered, and their similarity and dissimilarity 
noted, — all with a predetermined aim to train the child 
in the art of study. Thus under the direction of a 
skilful teacher children soon discover that to study is not 
to memorize the text, but rather to discover and under- 
stand the points, parts, causes, and their effects. Such a 
study recitation fails to cover as much ground, perhaps, as 
a regular one in which all are prepared, but it is almost 
as valuable in giving a knowledge of the lesson, and more 
valuable in training in the art of study. 

{d) Emphasize the teaching phase of the recitation. The 
recitation is the period in which the teacher teaches, 
tests, or trains. Its results are knowledge, power, and 
skill. Emphasis may be placed on any one of these 
processes, and consequently augment the corresponding 



106 THE RECITATION 

result. But the recitation in many instances is permitted 
to lose its vitalizing power as an instrument of instruc- 
tion, and to degenerate into a mere examination through 
which to test the child's preparation. In 
the Mind fo^ef; the tcacMug proccss, the mind gets; in the 
Examination, examination, it gives. The art of study is a 

to give. ' -^ •' 

process of acquisition. The teaching reci- 
tation, therefore, far surpasses the examination in the 
power to train children in the art of study. And a 
child's incapacity to study may be due to the fact that 
he has been examined rather than taught. 

(e) Never teach without the attention of the entire class. 
A listless pupil is generally a poor student ; and he may 
be a poor student because of his listlessness. Attention 
is the self-directed effort of the mind to see, to grasp, to 
know, to understand. The mind that is required, or 
rather induced, to make that effort day after day in the 
Attention as Tecitatiou is rewarded with knowledge, power, 
an Effort to and sMll, and is thus not only prepared for 
^^^^^' study, but to some extent trained in the art. 

Much of the poor preparation on the part of the chil- 
dren has its tap-root in the lack of attention. Com- 
plete mental devotion to the subject under consider- 
ation, in the recitation always gives power to devote 
the mind to the work of study. Mental effort gives 
mental power. Nothing else does. Attention is the 
act, the effort of the mind to get ; it therefore develops 
the getting power of the mind, the very power used in 
the art of study. 

(/) In the assignment of lessons give hints, outlines, and 
suggestions that will aid in its preparation. Assign the 
work as far as possible so that there is a unity in each 
lesson. Point out that unity and suggest its parts. 



THE ART OF STUDY 107 

Start the class at the right point, head them in the right 
direction, show them the objects they are to investigate, 
and point out the ends for which they are to search. 
Outlines, indicating certain investigations and asking for 
certain information, are very helpful. A series of ques- 
tions put before the children, to which they are to find 
answers in the text, will greatly aid in the work of study. 
(g) Have a study programme with regular hours and 
periods for work. Effort leaves a tendency to repeat 
itself. And systematic effort at regular intervals soon 
makes this tendency strong and effective. It conserves 
energy, saves time, develops attention, strengthens self- 
determination, and trains the will through the „ , ., 

' ^ Regularity as 

determined execution of a definite purpose, the Basis of 
All this aids in forming habits of study by 
giving the mind power to act firmly, regularly, and 
effectively in a given direction. 

If possible, during this period, the teacher should give 
any special aid an individual may need. The so-called 
slow pupil may be lacking only in the power to study. 
He may be unable to think, or may have feeble powers 
of thought. A hint may start the process of thought, or 
give vigor to its feebleness. The failure to solve a 
problem may be due to a failure to grasp and under- 
stand its conditions or the principles upon which they 
rest. The teacher may focus the similar light the pupil 
possesses upon these conditions and principles, and that 
which was dark will become luminous to the child, and 
the problem itself will suggest the solution. The source 
of power is within, and a little aid on the part of the 
teacher will greatly help the student in his efforts to 
utilize it. 

Study is the greatest of school-room arts. Its con- 



108 THE RECITATION 

tributions outrank those of any other exercise. It is the 
shortest, safest, and surest route to culture, attainment, 
and power. It is at once the price and the measure of 
each. The desire to study, the capacity for study, and 
the habit of study are priceless gifts to the race. They 
generally spring from within, although they may come 
from without, the school. But regardless of their source, 
they have made humanity their debtors. They have 
revealed all knowledge, stated all principles, formulated 
all laws, constructed all sciences, organized all effort, 
The Results established all civilizations, annihilated all 
of study. errors, promulgated all religions, forged the 

shafts of all progress, and reared to the heavens the 
eternal towers of revealed truth. How important, then, 
that the conditions of study be favorable, that the objects 
of study be definite, that the philosophy of study be 
clear, that the habits of study be strong, and that the 
suggestions about study be helpful ! And to contribute 
to these ends has been the whole aim and end of this 
lecture. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

THE ART OF STUDY 

I. — Possibility of Study. 

1. The unity of mind. 

2. The capacity to know. 

3. The working content of the mind. 

4. The possibility of study. 

XL- — Conditions of Study. 

1. Physical or objective. 

(a) Bodily health and comfort. 

{b) Abundance of pure air at a normal temperature. 

(c) Freedom from noise and confusion. 

(d) Regular hours for study, sleep, and exercise. 



THE ART OF STUDY 109 

2. Mental or subjective. 

(a) Interest in the lesson. 

(b) Ability to study. 

1. As a store of related facts. 

2. As the power to concentrate. 
III. — Objects of Study. 

1. A well-formed mind. 

2. A well-filled mind. 

3. A well-rounded character. 

IV. — The Philosophy of Study. 

1. The act of study defined. 

2. The process of study explained. 

(a) The stage of apprehension. 

(b) The stage of comprehension. 

(c) The stage of application. 
V. — How not to Study. 

1. Not by idly reading the lesson. 

2. Not by memorizing it. 

VI. — How TO Study. 

1. Read the lesson carefully as a whole and try to dis- 

cover its leading thought. 

2. Concentrate the mind upon the facts with a view of 

comprehending them. 

3. Try to know what the facts are, what they mean, and 

what they teach. 

4. Note Jacotot's plan. 

{a) Learn, (6) reflect, (c) verify, (d) repeat. 

VII. — The Unprepared in a Recitation. 

1. Those who could prepare, but do not. 

(a) Prevented by ill-health. 

(b) Prevented by bodily discomfort. 

(c) Prevented by noise and confusion. 

(d) Prevented by lack of time, due, — 

1. To too many studies. 

2. To a curtailment of study periods. 

3. To social claims. 



110 THE RECITATION 

(e) Absence of regular hours and habits. 
(/) Those who lack interest. 
(g) Those who will not study. 
2. Those who would prepare, but cannot. 

(a) Because of the lack of a fund of related truth. 
(6) Because of the lack of the power of concentra- 
tion, 
(c) Because of errors in classification. 

VIII. — ^What to do with the Unprepared. 

1. With those who could prepare, but do not. 

(a) Remove the cause. 

(b) Expect preparation. 

2. With those who would prepare, but cannot. 

(a) Let oral instruction precede book study. 

(b) Study the lesson with the pupils during the reci- 

tation period. 

(c) Have frequent study recitations. 

(d) Emphasize the teaching recitation. 

(e) Never teach without attention. 

(/) Give hints and suggestions in assignment of les- 
sons. 
(g) Have a study programme. 



PART II 

THE RECITATION CONSIDERED 
IN ITS PARTS 



PART II 

CHAPTER I 
PARTS OF THE RECITATION 



Diligence ensures success. 

R. G. Parker 

To assign the lesson in accordance with the ability of the class 
to acquire, requires judgment, knowledge, and a large share of 
common sense. 

Selected 



X 



CHAPTER I 
PARTS OF THE RECITATION 

The whole is greater than any of its parts. — Selected. 

We have studied the recitation in its unity and pointed 
out what seems to be some of the characteristics that 
determine its value. We are now to examine it from 
the analytic standpoint, and, if possible, separate it into 
the parts that form that unity and make a careful study 
of each. 

Taken in its broadest sense, a recitation is an exercise 
in which the teacher tests, teaches, or trains, and 
through which the child acquires knowledge, power, or 
skill. As such it naturally subdivides itself into three 
parts : 

1. The testing part. 

2. The teaching part. 

3. The training part. 

Teaching, in a sense, is a spiritual process. Any at- 
tempt, therefore, to analyze it will be more or less 
mechanical. But notwithstanding this fact, it may be 
helpful in our study to regard these divisions as separate 
and distinct parts, at least in aim and process, and to 
some extent different in results. 

It is well to observe, however, that these parts of the 
recitation are not always found operating in separate and 
distinct periods of time that are easily discerned. The 
teacher may sometimes use a given period for testing, 
another for teaching, and still another for the work of 

8 115 



116 THE RECITATION 

training. In such case the process involved is continuous 
throughout the period. But in other cases one of these 
processes may displace the others in such rapid succes- 
sion as to make them seem almost simultaneous. But 
expertness in teaching demands that the teacher recog- 
nize the aim, the content, the limitations, and the results 
of these three processes, whether they follow in separate 
periods clearly discernible or displace one another in 
rapid succession. 

These are the three fundamental parts of the recitation, 
and to them may be added the following, not so impor- 
tant, and yet worthy of a place as a separate division : 

4. The assigning part. 

By this we mean the assignment of lessons. We pre- 
fer to regard this as a separate part, not so much be- 
cause of its aim or effect, but because it generally occu- 
pies a separate period of time. 

I.— THE TESTING PART. 

This is the part in which the teacher tests the child's 
preparation, power, or skill. It is a kind of examina- 
tion. In it the child tells what he knows of the lesson. 
This includes what he has learned through study and 
preparation and what he has gathered from every source. 
The testing may be done through the medium of oral or 
written expression, and in response to either the ques- 
tion or the topic method. It may occasionally drift over 
Testing is not the line and give a little actual instruction, 
Teaching. j^^^ |^ practice, regardless of method or plan, 
it is practically a testing, not a teaching, exercise. If the 
student is somewhat advanced in the art of study, he 
may be able to give many, perhaps all, of the facts of 
the subject matter, to explain their meaning, and even 
to abstract from them their hidden lessons ; but it is 



PARTS OF THE RECITATION 117 

principally a searching process, a kind of examination 
in which the pupil does little more than state what he 
knows. 

This is an essential part of every recitation, but it is 
not the only part, nor the most important part. For 
while it may occasionally impart some knowledge and 
thus instruct the child, its main purpose is to get rather 
than to give ; to test, rather than to teach ; to recite, 
rather than to think. It is the easy part of 

*' ^ Mistaking the 

the recitation, demanding less ability and partforthe 
less skill on the part of the teacher than the ^^°^®- 
work of instruction. And the danger is that the young, 
inexperienced teacher mistakes this part for the whole 
recitation, and thus really never makes a specific effort 
to teach. 

The valuable results that come from this part of the 
recitation may be summarized as follows : 

1. It tests the pupil's preparation. 

2. It tests the pupil's general knowledge and ability to 
study. 

3. It cultivates the memory. 

4. It trains in the art of expression. 

5. It gives some skill and mental discipline. 

6. It reveals the child's limitations, and thus indicates 
the points where instruction and drill should begin. 

n.— THE TEACHING PART. 

The second part of the recitation is the teaching part. 
As its name implies, it is devoted to the work of instruc- 
tion. In it the teacher teaches and the child learns. 
This is what Dr. White calls giving a lesson. It differs 
essentially from the examining part. The one tests, the 
other teaches ; the one examines, the other instructs ; 



118 THE RECITATION 

the one trains the child to give^ the other to get. In the 
former the mind dehvers what it has discovered ; in the 
latter it discovers what it may deliver. 

In this part the purpose is to examine both the known 
and the unknown. The child is led to see familiar facts 
more clearly, comprehend them more fully, and think 
of them more vigorously. This may be done to some ex- 
Exploring the ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ testing proccss. But the main 
Unknown. purpose is to pass beyond the region of the 
known, to examine, investigate, and explore the realm 
of the unknown in fact, and especially in thought. By 
questions and suggestions the teacher directs the work, 
but does not do it. He incites interest, points the way, 
removes irrelevant rubbish, focuses attention on the spot 
where the discovery in fact or thought is to be made, 
and flashes as much light as possible into the region of 
darkness. The aim is to illumine the way and direct 
the thought, but yet to allow the pupil to do his own 
thinking and to receive the stimulus and the reward that 
come as a result of discovery. The child looks and 
listens. His whole mind, not part of it, is du^ected to 
the one thing under consideration. He sees nothing in 
the universe for the moment but the point at issue. At 
that point is concentrated all the light and energy of his 
mind. He examines, analyzes, compares, discovers, and 

concludes. The mists rise, the fogs scat- 
wl^^unk^^wn ter, the light dawns from within, and the 
into the unhiown is transformed into the known. As 

a result of this the pupil sees new facts,, 
discovers new truths, thinks new thoughts, comprehends 
new relations, forms new opinions, and reaches new 
conclusions. 

The teaching process is the dominant feature of this 



PARTS OF THE RECITATION llg' 

part of the recitation. And it is to be noted that the 
vital part of that process from the pupiFs standpoint iff 
that he be aroused to iodependeiit thought. Withaut 
this everything else is vain. The supreme duty of fe' 
teacher is to stimulate and direct the pupil's thought, to' 
project it toward some specific end, known to him, but as 
yet unknown to the learner. The point of beginning is 
some known fact or relation. The child is led to think 
about it, to compare it with others, to note their simi- 
larity or difference, and to arrive at some conclusion 
about them. In a similar manner other conclusions are 
reached. These conclusions are in turn examined and 
compared; their similarities or differences ^ , . 

^ Conclusions are 

noted, and a new conclusion is reached, the Milestones 
Thus, the child thinks his way from the ^^'^^°^^h^- 
known into the unknown. His conclusions are the 
milestones of his progress, the advance guards of his 
thought, the great circles of mental illumination where 
darkness is dispelled by light, where the unknown is 
illuminated and identified by the known. It is thinking 
that carries the child forward and upward in his work, 
and conclusions are the periods that mark the comple- 
tion of acts of thought and separate one from another. 

Thinking is hard work, but in the teaching process it 
is necessary. It fatigues the body and exhausts the 
brain. But the effort repeated again and again after 
suitable relaxation gives insight, knowledge, wisdom, 
strength, logic, power. It is indispensable, even if it is 
exhausting to both mind and body. For while presen- 
tation may be clear ; illustration, luminous ; suggestion, 
definite; statement, strong; and argument, convincing, 
they can accomplish little on the part of the teacher 
unless the pupil individually is aroused to thought. 



120 THE RECITATION 

Thinking is at once the compass that guides and the 
boat that carries the child forward toward the desired 
The Compass ©^d. And wMle the teacher thinks with 
that Guides. the child, he must not think for him. The 
royal prerogative of every child in this part of the reci- 
tation is to think. And even if it taxes the brain and 
tires the body it must not be evaded or neglected, for 
from the exercise of this prerogative spring the best 
results to the child. 

The aim of the teacher, then, in this part of the reci- 
tation is to arouse and to direct ihe child's thought. 
This purpose may be accomplished through exposition, 
definition, explanation, suggestion, and statement. But 
the leading instrument of the teacher's power is the 
question. With it he arouses the slumbering faculties, 
stirs the stagnant energies, and stimulates the dormant 
activities ; by it he sustains the interest, challenges the 
attention, and opens the very throttle-valves 

The Question as ' ^ •' 

an Instrument of thouglit ; tlirough it he guidcs the prog- 
of Power. j,ggg Q^ ^YiQ investigation, directs the child's 
mind to the very spot where the new conclusion lies 
concealed, and at the right moment aids in lifting the 
veil that hides it. And the teachers worth is largely 
determined by his ability to use the question as an in- 
strument of thought and instruction. But whether he 
uses question or suggestion, the real progress that is 
made is ever measured by the extent and character of 
the child's thought. 

In this part of the recitation the teacher, or some 
member of the class, often adds new facts not found 
in the text, yet closely related to its subject matter. 
We are told that '^ telling is not teaching ;" and we are 
so accustomed to accept this old maxim that we scarcely 



PARTS OF THE RECITATION 121 

stop to think about it. Telling in the recitation may 
or may not be teaching. When the mind, as a passive 
receptacle, receives truth, telling is not teaching, because 
the fuel falls upon extinct fires, and there is no respon- 
sive action, no interpretation, and no assimilation. But 
when the testimony is as fuel to a living fire, and results 
in stimulated action and reflection, then whenTeiiing 
telling is teaching. In the university and is Teaching, 
the college, in the pulpit and on the platform, the lecture 
is regarded as a legitimate method of instruction. And 
while it would be unwise to use telling as a method of 
teaching in the elementary school, it is equally unwise 
for the teacher never to supplement the text with that 
related matter which the child should know and which 
is not of sufficient importance to reward him for indi- 
vidual investigation. Indeed, we get much of our infor- 
mation from testimony, — the testimony of lecturer, 
preacher, editor, author, and the teacher who fails to 
add needed information, ignores an important source of 
truth to the child. 

In this part of the recitation, then, the teacher or 
some pupil adds information that will interest the class 
and throw light on the lesson. In the testing part the 
work seldom goes beyond the confines of the text ; but 
in this, lines of thought may be followed to outside 
sources, — ^to teacher, to pupil, to other texts, and to 
higher authorities. The teacher may assign certain 
questions to individuals, and ask them to post up and 
report to the class at some future time. In short, re- 
liable information from any source may be added by 
either teacher or pupil, provided that it is closely related 
to the subject matter and will contribute to the interest 
and profit of the class. It is always wise to examine 



122 Me recitation 

and discuss this added information, in order that it may 
be made that kind of telhng that is teaching. 

The teaching part of the recitation is its most impor- 
tant part. Like the examination it also tests and strains, 
but it does more : 

1 . It instructs the child. 

2. It gives mental discipline : 

(a) By verifying fact. 

(b) By examining testimony. 

(c) By substantiating evidence. 

(d) By confirming statement. 

(e) By comparing relations. 

(/) By discovering their similarity or difference. 
(g) By reaching new conclusions. 

m.— THE TRAINING PART. 

Both the teaching and the testing parts of the recita- 
tion to some extent train. But the training they give is 
insufficient in itself. It must be supplemented by special 
practice devised for that purpose and directed to that 
end. This may be done on certain days or on separate 
occasions, but it is generally done in the recitation, and 
may be regarded as a legitimate part of it. 

This part of the recitation is sometimes called the 
drill. Its purpose is to deepen impressions, to break or 
form habit, and to give the child that mental or physical 
exercise that will result in skill, dexterity, efficiency, and 
power. 

These are not the direct results of instruction. You 
cannot teach a child skill. It must be acquired by him 
through suitable practice. The aim of every drill, then, 
is to so exercise the eye, the ear, the hand, the tongue, 
or the mind, on that plane^ at that rate^ and with that 



PARTS OF THE RECITATION 12S 

purpose which will result in giving them the ability to do 
easily, rapidly, and accurately what is required of them. 
To this end the teacher, in giving a drill, should keep in 
mind a few fundamental facts. 

1. Drill gives skill throug-h practice. Practice pro- 
duces proficiency. This is the basis of all trades, all 
games, all arts, and the law through the op- ^.v « .^« . 

^ ' ' & r The first Efforts 

eration of which all skill is acquired. First are crude and 
efforts are always crude and clumsy. They ^^^^^y- 
waste both time and energy, but they leave a tendency 
and an aptitude to repeat themselves. These grow 
stronger with each successive effort. Each act is easier 
and more efficient than its predecessor, because of 
this accumulation of inherited tendency. The nerve 
tracks, made so laboriously by first efforts, soon become 
the beaten paths along which impulses and impressions 
rush with ease and facility. " Practice makes perfect." 
It gives far better results than the products of earlier 
efforts, and it gives them at a cost greatly reduced in 
time and energy. Thus drill gives skill, — that is, the power 
to do with ease, accuracy, and rapidity what was at first 
difficult and laborious. 

2. Practice must be clear and definite in aim. 
Practice alone is not sufficient. Aimless effort is almost 
useless. Indeed, it is sometimes harmful. It is auto- 
matic and mechanical. As such it suppresses the inter- 
est it should excite, induces the indifference it should dis- 
pel, represses the effort it should encourage, and destroys 
the attention it should arouse. It is useless because it 
fails to do what is needed, and harmful because it per- 
petuates errors instead of removing them. 

But clear and definite aim energizes and directs effort. 
It makes practice both inspiring and efficient. Accord- 



124 THE RECITATION 

ing to Comenius, ''We learn to do by doing." This 
maxim is true when it refers to the general law that drill 
Learning to do gi^^s skill. But it is scarcely a sufficient 
by doing. guide for the teacher in this difficult work. 

McLellan thinks it more appropriate to say, " We learn 
to do by knowing." This change sheds needed light. 
A knowledge of what to do and how to do it must 
always guide the act that is to be efficient. Practice 
not based upon, and guided by positive, scientific knowl- 
edge, is often dangerous. The physician w^hose practice 
of medicine is not based upon scientific knowledge is a 
quack. There must be science back of art to guide it in 
practice, if that practice is to be safe and efficient. 

This is practically the view of Dr. Schaeffer, who 
shows in Thinking and Learning to Think that this 
schaeffer's uiaxim is not a principle of education that 
Idea. is universal in its application. He speaks 

of a young man without a knowledge of medicine who 
was willing to prescribe for the sick in order to learn 
the effect of drugs, and who, without a knowledge of 
surgery, was willing to amputate limbs that he might 
learn the art. But the people were too wise to give 
him an opportunity to " learn to do by doing." 

The same authority says : " No one in our day would 
advocate mere blind doing as a means of learning. The 
maxim must refer to doing guided by an intelligent will. 
The doing must be guided by thinking that is based upon 
correct and reliable data or premises." 

But the maxim may be examined from another view- 
point. Dr. White regards it as a half truth 
and adds the other half by saying, "We 
learn to do by doing under the inspiration and guid- 
ance of true ideals." Practice is thus not sufficient in 



PARTS OF THE RECITATION 125 

itself. It must be clear and definite in aim. True aims 
are idealistic. They are more than mere models to 
guide. They are also dynamos that move to action and 
magnets that draw. True aims lift, inspire, and guide. 

It takes blind practice a long time to become proficient. 
A boy placed in a blacksmith's shop with all the neces- 
sary tools and materials may, without aid, become a 
crude sort of mechanic, but it will be only after years 
of wasted time and at the cost of tons of wasted mate- 
rial. His practice must be inspired by clear and definite 
aim, by models of accuracy and excellence, and guided 
by scientific knowledge. So the highest degree of skill 
and efficiency in any school-room art comes from prac- 
tice that is inspired by definite aims, by models of ex- 
cellence, and guided by scientific knowledge. 

3. Practice must be adapted in Time to the Capa- 
bility of the Child. Some artists are slow workers, but 
tediousness is not necessarily a factor in skill. On the 
contrary, its elements are ease, accuracy, and rapidity. 
Each of these is of some importance, and none should 
be neglected. The child who can do a piece of work 
easily and accurately but very slowly, lacks an important 
element in skill, and therefore needs drill. The purpose 
of drill is to secure ease of execution and excellence in 
result in the shortest possible period of time. To do 
this, the time element in practice must be carefully 
watched, and the rate of drill adapted as far as possible 
to the capability of the child. The child practice at the 
Avho writes slowly will never become a ^ig^t Point. 
rapid penman without some accelerated movement in 
practice. Drill pitched at the right point, and given 
at a rate that demands accuracy while it reduces the 
time required toward a minimum, will by and by make 



126 THE RECITATION 

the pupil that is slow in mathematical calculations, 
rapid. 

At what rate then shall the drill be given ? No defi- 
nite answer is possible. The ability and the capability 
of the child and the characteristics of the exercise must 
decide. It must not be too rapid for the slow mind nor 
too slow for the quick one, else it is discouraging to the 
former and useless to the latter. It should be just rapid 
enough to allow, not a few, but a large number of pupils 
to complete the exercise with accuracy and excellence, 
while it constantly reduces the time element to a mini- 
mum. And great care, insight, and judgment are needed 
on the part of the teacher thus to regulate the drill in 
time to the capability of the individual or the class. 

4. The Practice must be adapted in Degree of DiflBL- 
culty to the Powers of the Child. Skill is the ability 
to perceive and to perform, the power to discern and to 
execute. It therefore implies strength. Now strength 
comes from struggle, and the extent of the strength is 
determined by the vigor and the character of the effort. 
The athlete who always lifts light burdens has little 
strength for heavy ones. 

Great strength cannot be developed by making things 
easy. The material for practice, then, must be nicely 
adjusted to the capability of the child, and graded in 
harmony with the degree of strength the exercise is 
intended to give. If it is too easy it gives little strength 
in return, quenches the fires of interest it should kindle, 
and disgusts the child it should encourage. If it is too 
difficult it may fatigue to the point of exhaustion the 
powders it was intended to strengthen, discourage the 
child it ought to stimulate, and keep him plodding on 
the race-course w^here he is expected to run. The prac- 



PARTS OF THE RECITATION 127 

tice, then, that would prepare the child to do difficult 
things with ease, excellence, accuracy, and rapidity, must 
be difficult enough to test and develop the needed 
strength, and yet not so difficult that it is discouraging 
and dangerous. 

5, Practice must be Diligent. Diligence is faithful 
application to some kind of work that has a strong hold 
on the feelings. Practice that is idle, indifferent, and 
careless is of little value. It must be conscious, earnest, 
inspiring, and careful. It must be pitched at the point 
that demands the child's best effort. Without this he 
may write and yet not improve in penmanship ; he may 
say the words of a lesson and not increase his facility 
to get thought and to give fluent and elegant expression 
to it. The heart must stand back of the head and the 
hand, and zeal and desire must give vigor to effort. The 
drill that is lifeless, automatic, and perfunctory, is useless 
and degrading. It is the chief stock in trade of poor 
teaching. But the drill that really trains, that gives ease 
and excellence, accuracy and rapidity in the largest 
measure, is always inspired by interest, zeal, earnest- 
ness, and by conscious care and fidelity. Roark says, 
" The rule of first importance in drilling is that the mfer- 
ested consciousness of the pupil must be evoked through- 
out the exercise ; mere drill monotony of repetition is 
not drill. Gain in power and skill is made in the same 
degree in which — to use Matthew Arnold's fine phrase — 
''^ consciousness permeates the worh^ 

The training part of the recitation, then, is the drill. 
It may occupy a separate period, as a place at the begin- 
ning or the close of the recitation. It may operate 
through the oral, written, or blackboard work in response 
to either the question or the topic method. But regard- 



128 THE RECITATION 

less of the time, place, or manner of the exercise its 
chief purpose is to give the child skill. And skill is al- 
ways the 7'esult of diligent practice^ based on scientiJiG knowl- 
edge^ inspired by right aims^ guided by right principles^ and 
graded in time and degree to the capabilities of the child. 

This part of the recitation is much neglected. Few 
teachers seem to appreciate the training value of the 
drill, and very fev^ understand how to use it to advan- 
importance ^age. As a result, the pupils in our schools 
of Drill. lack skill. They know something of pen- 

manship, but they cannot write with ease, excellence and 
rapidity. They understand something of drawing, but 
their efforts in the art are clumsy and commonplace. 
They have some knowledge of grammar, but cannot 
speak or write with force and accuracy. They compre- 
hend some mathematical principles, but their efforts to 
apply them in the solution of problems are laboriously 
slow and distressingly inaccurate. And all these defects, 
serious as they are, are often due, not so much to lack 
of instruction, as to the negligence or the imperfections 
of drill. 

The materials for practice in all drills should, as far as 
possible, be crisp and fresh. Old exercises, examples, 
and problems which the mind has formerly used and 
understood are of little value. The problem, for in- 
stance, that was solved and comprehended in the prepa- 
ration is not the best problem for the drill. A new one, 
similar, yet different in some degree, is far better. The 
same is true in grammatical drills, — in fact in any drill. 
The Material In some schools the pupils solve and explain 
for Drill. lYi the recitation the same problems they 

solved and understood in the preparation of the lesson. 
They use them again in the drill, notwithstanding the 



PARTS OF THE RECITATION 129 

identical problems were used in the same way two or 
three times last year. Such a plan is not only unin- 
spiring, but is also, in a large measure, non-produc- 
tive of the best results that should come from drill. The 
repetition of some things is necessary, in others it 
cannot be well avoided. But drill, as far as possible, 
should use new material. ' New things are attractive 
and full of interest to the child. They claim his best 
efforts ; while the use of that which is old and familiar 
is uninspiring and tends to suppress the zeal and in- 
terest so essential in the acquisition of skill. 

From this discussion it is evident that the drill occupies 
an important place in every class-room. It deserves 
more attention than the test, and is second only to the 
work of instruction. Its chief advantages may be stated 
as follows : 

1. It trains the memory. 

2. It trains in the art of expression. 

3. It aids in the formation of habits. 

4. It gives skill in the school arts. 

To teach, to test, and to train are the fundamental aims 
of the three corresponding parts of the recitation. They 
name the process that is dominant in each, and only a 
word is necessary as to the logical order in which these 
processes should be used. 

It is evident that a pupil must have knowledge before 
he can be tested in it or trained by it. Consequently 
with little children, who cannot acquire a knowledge of 
a lesson by study, the teaching exercise comes first, the 
drill possibly second, and the test last. This The order of 
order, however, may be changed, if the the Parts, 
knowledge used in the test and the drill was acquired at 
some former time. But with pupils advanced in the art 



130 THE RECITATION 

of study, the teacher may first test preparation, then 
teach and train, if the new matter is to be the basis of 
the drill, or train and then teach if formerly acquired 
matter is to be used. In such cases the test coming 
first reveals the extent of the pupil's knowledge, and 
consequently the point at which instruction should 
begin, as well as the necessity and the scope of the 
drill. 

IV.— THE ASSIGNING PART. 

The fourth part of the recitation is that devoted to 
the assignment of lessons. It is not as important, per- 
haps, as the others, yet it deserves the careful attention 
of every teacher. In discussing this subject three promi- 
nent points demand consideration : 

1. The time to make the assignment. 

2. The extent of the assignment. 

3. The character of the work to be done in making 
the assignment. 

1. The time to make the assignment. What is the 
proper time to assign a lesson ? Two answers may be 
given to this question. The proper time is either at the 
beginning or at the close of the recitation. If the pupils 
are young and cannot use to advantage the art of study, 
it is wise perhaps to make the assignment at the close 
of the recitation. The objection to this is that the 
teacher and pupils are more or less exhausted, and the 
Purpose of the assignment may, therefore, not accomplish 
Assignment. ^q ^^e fullest extent its purpose. The same 
objection holds if the order is reversed. For if the as- 
signment precedes the teaching exercise, the teacher and 
pupils are not as fresh and vigorous for the work of in- 
struction as if it came first. With young pupils, then, it 



PARTS OF THE RECITATION 131 

seems best to make the assignment at the close of the 
recitation. 

But with advanced pupils the assignment should be 
made at the beginning of the recitation. Coming at 
the close of the period the assignment is likely to be 
made hastily, in the most perfunctory manner, and with 
little interest and profit to the pupils. At the beginning, 
however, it is more likely to receive its full quota of 
time. The teacher is mentally fresh, keen, and incisive, 
and the pupils alert and active, ready to seize and use to 
advantage any suggestions made concerning the new 
lesson. The assignment is not merely to designate the 
extent of the next lesson, but to train the pupil in the 
art of study. And since this art, with advanced pupils, 
supersedes in importance every other school exercise, 
the beginning of the recitation is the most opportune 
time to make the assignment. 

There is, however, an objection. If lessons are not 
well prepared they are often reassigned. And if the 
assignment is made at the beginning the teacher may 
not know whether to assign a new lesson or to re- 
assign the old. This is true ; and yet it is scarcely a 
sufficient reason for not making the assignment at the 
time when it will best accomplish its purpose. And 
in all such cases the reassignment would simply take 
its place. 

2. The extent of the assignment. What shall be 
assigned? Many teachers dismiss this question with 
little consideration, and simply designate so many pages 
or paragraphs. Every recitation has a definite purpose, 
and this in a measure will determine the assignment, 
just as an order for lumber is determined by the use 
that is to be made of it. 

9 



132 THE RECITATION 

The assignment should be definite. And as far as 
possible it should be a unit or a group of units. But 
The Unity 1^ should also be a link in the chain of in- 
ofthe struction. The unity in a lesson is im- 

Assignment. i i mi • i 

portant. The mmd grasps wholes before it 
analyzes them into parts. And if the lesson assigned 
has no unity, the pupil's mind is somewhat baffled at 
the beginning of its work. 

The assignment may be a process, a paragraph, a 
chapter, a topic, or a unitized group of topics. What the 
link is, how it unites with the preceding one, and how it 
is to be joined with what is to follow, must be wrought 
out by the child in the preparation, or by the teacher 
and the child in the recitation. 

3. The character of the -work done in making" the 
assignment. What shall the teacher do in making the 
assignment ? The answer to this question is as difficult 
as it is important. 

" Mental effort is important." Nothing else can ever 
take its place. The teacher, then, who does the work for 
the child robs him of the vital results that reward effort 
and of the joy that crowns achievement. The teacher 
who withholds needed aid swings to the opposite ex- 
treme. The question of just how far the teacher shall aid 
the child is vital and not less important in the assignment 
than in the teaching exercise. It must always be de- 
termined by the capacity of the child and the character 
of the subject matter. No rule, absolutely positive, is 
therefore possible. 

The whole aim of the assignment is to designate the 
extent of the lesson, to aid the pupil in its preparation, and 
to train him in the art of study. Its extent should be 
made clear and positive. The teacher should arouse 



PARTS OF THE RECITATION 133 

and, if possible, intensify the interest of the class in the 
subject matter. Its unity may be pointed The Aim of the 
out and its essential features designated. -A^ssignment. 
Attention may be directed to specific aims and to legiti- 
mate lines of investigation. Outlines to guide, questions 
to aid, and suggestive hints to help may be given. Ref- 
erence books may be named, maps and charts designated, 
and lines of approach carefully marked out. The battle 
is not fought at this point, but a preliminary view of the 
field and the forces is taken for the pupil's benefit. 

The pupils are thus started at the right point, and, with 
their eyes open and their minds alert, are headed in the 
right direction. They have some clear and definite aims ; 
they are looking for something specific, some particular 
thing ; they are searching for it in the right way and at 
the right place, so far as this preliminary aid of the 
teacher can guide them, and they are far more likely to 
find it, and thus make the study hour more profitable, 
than if left to themselves. 

Such an assignment (a) saves time, (6) conserves en- 
ergy, (c) encourages the pupils, (d) trains in the art of 
study, and (e) leads the way to larger and better results. 

It is in full accord with the philosophy of good teach- 
ing, which simply points the way, designates the habita- 
tion of the desired truth and its relations, aids in their 
fuller comprehension, but leaves the work of discovery 
and the joy of achievement to reward the child for his 
efforts. 

To teach, to train, to test, and to assign, then, are the 
parts of the recitation. They are not always easily dis- 
cerned as separate exercises operating in separate pe- 
riods of time, yet they are radically different in aim and 
in process, and more or less different in their results. 



134 THE RECITATION 

The purpose of each is set forth in the words test, teach, 
train, and assign. The first aims to examine the child 
Aim and Result ^nd test his preparation ; as a result it deep- 
of each Part gus imprcssiou and trains in the art of ex- 
pression. The second aims to instruct the child ; to en- 
large and clarify the field of mental vision ; to analyze its 
contents, discover its relations, and unitize them into syn- 
thetic wholes. The result of this to the child is mainly 
knowledge and discipline. The aim of the third is to 
train the child through practice and exercise in the ordi- 
nary schoolroom arts. The results that come from these 
drills may be summed up in the word skill. The simple 
purpose of the fourth part is the assignment of work. 
And this, if skilfully done, will save time, and to some 
extent train the child in the art of study. 

Thus a recitation, aside from the assignment, is a 
trinity of processes, and a unity of parts. For these 
processes, though separate in operation, and these parts, 
A Trinity and though distiuct in aim, are so intimately re- 
a Unity. lated, SO fundamentally united, so depen- 

dently associated, and so skilfully interlaced, as to form 
a unity that is at once, from a pedagogical point of view, 
symmetrical, harmonious, and complete. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

PARTS OF THE RECITATION. 

I. — The Testing Part. 

1. It tests preparation. 

2. It tests the pupil's general knowledge and his ability to 

study. 

3. It cultivates the memory. 

4. It trains in the art of expression. 

6. It gives some skill and some discipline. 



PARTS OF THE RECITATION 135 

6. It reveals the child's limitations and indicates the proper 
field for instruction and drill. 



II. — The Teaching Part. 

1 . It instructs the child. 

2. It gives mental discipline. 

(a) By verifying fact. 

(6) By examining testimony. 

(c) By substantiating evidence, 

(d) By comfirming statement. 

(e) By comparing relations. 

(/) By discovering their similarity or difference. 
(g) By reaching new conclusions. 

III.— The Training Part. 

1. It trains the memory. 

2. It trains in the art of expression. 

3. It aids in the formation of habits. 

4. It gives skill in school arts. 

(a) Drill through practice gives skill. 

(b) Practice must be clear and definite in aim. 

(c) Practice must be adapted in time to the capability 

of the child. 

(d) Practice must be adapted in degree of difficulty to 

the power of the child. 

(e) Practice must be diligent. 

IV. — The Assigning Part. 

1. The time of assignment. 

(a) At the beginning of the recitation. 
(6) At the close of the recitation. 

2. The extent of the assignment. 

(a) A unit or a group of units. 

3. The character of the work done in the assignment. 

(a) Hints and suggestions that aid in the preparation 
and train in the art of study. 



136 THE RECITATION 

4. Results of the assignment. 

(a) It saves time. 

(b) It conserves energy. 

(c) It encourages the pupils. 

(d) It trains in the art of study. 

(e) It leads the way to higher and better results. 



PART II 



CHAPTER II 



PREPARATION, THE FIRST FORMAL 
STEP 



Before proceeding upon any plan we should carefully weigh it. 

S. Merrill 

Each recitation should begin with a brief review of what has 
been gone over recently, and close with a "preview" of the next. 

ROARK 

In all matters, before beginning, diligent preparation should 
be made. 

Cicero 

He who is not prepared to-day will be less so to-morrow. 

Ovid 



CHAPTER II 

PREPARATION, THE FIRST FORMAL STEP 

Preparation is half the battle. — Cervantes. 

We have seen that the recitation has four parts. If 
they are not fundamental, they are at least important. 
And of these the most important is the teaching part. 
We are now to make a special study of that part, to 
examine it carefully, to analyze it critically, and, if possi- 
ble, to obtain a more intimate knowledge of this art of 
arts. 

All notions are either particular or general. The 
former are percepts, the latter concepts. The first are 
the result of sense-perception, or they arise ,pj^g ^^^^ 
out of the examination of some particular fact Materials of 
or relation. The second are the product of 
mental action, which works up percepts into concepts. 
Particular notions are the raw materials of knowledge, 
but general notions are its finished products. 

All instruction, then, deals with either the one or the 
other of these notions. Its effort is to give the mind 
percepts or to elaborate them into higher forms. The 
first may be called the stage of presentation, the second 
the stage of generalization. In presentation the mind is 
engaged chiefly in acquiring particular notions ; but in 
generaUzation it examines and compares them, abstracts 
general notions from them, formulates them into defini- 
tions, rules, and laws, and then applies them. Generaliza- 
tion is thus a comprehensive term. And for convenience 

139 



140 THE RECITATION 

and clearness in discussion it may be divided into com- 
parison, generalization proper, and application. The first 
includes abstraction and association ; the second, recapitu- 
lation and definition of general truths ; and the third, the 
apphcation of them. 

But there is a stage of work that precedes presentation. 
The mind must be prepared to receive. An empty mind 
cannot acquire, it cannot even give attention to the pre- 
sentation. Acquisition is possible only when the mind 
has a working capital of related ideas and the power 
to use them. 

Since all truth is related, and every normal mind must 
acquire some particular notions through sense-perception, 
every such mind must have at least a small group of 
ideas related intimately or remotely to the one to be 
acquired. But, thus supplied, it may have little power 
to use its content in the work of acquisition. This may 
be due to many causes. Its related truth may lack that 
organization which gives it its acquisitive power. It may 
The Mind's ^^ uuable to Concentrate its energies on the 
working new thing. Or the old knowledge which 

^^^ * ■ ordinarily grasps and interprets the new may 

be passive and dormant. Indeed, the great body of 
knowledge is generally in a dormant condition. Groups 
of related ideas become active and rush forward into 
consciousness only when some cause arouses them. This 
is a wise regulation. The mind can investigate only one 
thing at a time ; and its numberless groups of related 
ideas, save only what are needed in the investigation, 
must remain passive and be banished for the time from 
consciousness. 

Preparation is needed to arouse to acquisitive action 
that part of the mind's possessions necessary to a proper 



PREPARATION, THE FIRST FORMAL STEP 141 

reception of the new presentation. When a ball is 
thrown to a player, every energy of mind and body 
is aroused to catch it. Preparation for the 
ball precedes the reception of it. So prep- f^oTeTthe 
aration of mind in teaching must precede the Mind's acquisi- 
presentation of the subject matter that the 
necessary group of related ideas may be aroused, organ- 
ized, and ready for the work at hand. 

The art of teaching includes every phase of prepara- 
tion, acquisition, and generalization. Within its scope, 
the limits of which are generally so vague and indefinite, 
are involved numberless processes, both psychological 
and pedagogical. A discussion of each would lead us 
far beyond the boundaries of this lecture, out of the 
practical, and into the realm of speculative thought. 
Our purpose is rather to discuss the essential processes 
of the art of teaching as grouped in the five formal steps. 
These steps are generally designated as follows : 

1. Preparation. 

2. Presentation. 

3. Comparison. 

4. Generalization. 

5. Application. 

Preparation fits the mind for the reception of the 
new truth. Presentation presents it and gives the 
mind particular notions. Comparison elaborates them 
into higher forms. Generalization reduces these forms 
to the convenient condensations in which the mind 
holds its possessions for future use ; application applies 
them. 

These steps are well-defined phases of the teaching 
process. They are its logical and psychological subdi- 
visions. As such they belong to, and are included in. 



142 THE RECITATION 

the teaching part of the recitation, and any discussion 
of these formal steps is a continuation of the discussion 
of that part of the recitation. 

It is not our intention to discuss these steps according 
to the Herbartian school of pedagogy, which first formu- 
lated them, nor to make an exhaustive psychological study 
of their content and limitations. We shall not enter the 
realm of abstract speculation, but rather treat them from 
the practical standpoint, and give such a discussion and 
such hints and suggestions as may prove helpful to the 
teacher. 

In this discussion it will be necessary for us to remem- 
ber that the progress of instruction is from the particular 
to the general. Percepts, or particular notions, are the 
simplest forms of truth. They constitute the 

From Raw t t . , . . , » , 

Material to crude, disorganized, raw materials of knowl- 
Finished edge. General notions are its finished 

Product. ^ 

products. Construction always proceeds 
from raw materials to finished products. The highly- 
organized and highly-finished mainspring of a watch was 
once crude ore. Numerous changes in form and struc- 
ture were necessary to make it into a spring, but every 
change was a step in the progress of construction from 
raw material to finished product. What is true of con- 
struction in material things is true also of instruction 
when appKed to the mind. The aim is to make vague 
notions clear ; confused notions, logical ; narrow views, 
broad ; superficial insight, profound ; and to lead the child 
from the consideration of particular ideas up to a com- 
prehension of the great laws and principles around 
which a subject is organized. The progress is from the 
concrete to the abstract, from the simple to the complex, 
from the particular notion to the general concept which 



PREPARATION, THE FIRST FORMAL STEP 143 

embodies the highest forms of organized knowledge. 
With this thought clearly in mind, let us proceed to a 
discussion of the formal steps. 

The first formal step is preparation. This refers, not 
to the preparation that teacher and pupils have made 
prior to the recitation, but to that immediate preparation 
of mind that is necessary in order that the pupil may re- 
ceive readily and assimilate fully the subject matter of 
the lesson. Its whole purpose is to prepare the mind of 
the learner to receive properly the new material, to put 
it into an apperceiving mood, so that the work of dis- 
covery, interpretation, and assimilation of the new 
material may be carried forward readily, rapidly, and 
successfully ; thus saving both time and energy, and 
helping to secure greater efficiency in the mastery of the 
lesson. 

With reference to this step two suggestions seem wise 
and necessary : 

1. The preparation must he timely . 

2. The preparation must he appropriate. 

1. The preparation must be timely. In the assign- 
ment of the lesson the teacher should give such instruction 
and help as will prepare the mind of the child for the 
ready reception of the new material in his preparation of 
the lesson. The mind is thus prepared and stands ready 
to grasp, interpret, and assimilate the new material in the 
effort to prepare the lesson. This self-directed effort of 
the mind in the act of study, impelled by an intense 
desire to know and to understand, greatly extends this 
preparation made in the assignment of the lesson, and 
adds to its completeness. 

But the preparation that comes from the assignment, 
and the further preparation that comes from the act of 



144 THE RECITATION 

study, are not sufficient in themselves. There must be 
that immediate preparation that is necessary to bring 
Preparing the the mind to that condition of apperceptive 
Seed Bed. rcccptivity SO esscutial to the act of learning. 
The gardener not only digs the bed thoroughly, he also 
stirs it afresh for the reception of the seed. So the 
preparation of the mind for its seed must be immediate 
and timely. 

2. The preparation must be appropriate. It is often 
said that each recitation should begin with a review of 
the preceding lesson. This is especially true with ref- 
erence to that part of it that is necessary to the proper 
reception and interpretation of the new material. 

Every recitation as suggested is a link in the chain of 
instruction. There is not only a point of contact, but a 
vital union between links. Yesterday's link must receive 
and unite with that of to-day, and to-day's link must be 
left in suitable condition to receive that of to-morrow. 
The review of the whole chain at stated times is wise, 
but a review of that part of the previous lesson to which 
to-day's work is to be joined is absolutely necessary. 

The child acquires the unknown with and through the 
known. The latter grasps and identifies the former. 
They are the related parts of the same sub- 
GripsTnT J6ct. The child has one, but not the other, 
Identifies the and /le must use what he has to get what he 
wants. The new must be received and 
interpreted by the old. The child must learn with what 
he has. There is no other way. 

But the possession of similar known matter is not all 
that is necessary. It must be aroused and prepared to 
seize and interpret that which is new in the subject 
matter. You cannot introduce a new friend without at 



PREPARATION, THE FIRST FORMAL STEP 145 

the same time presenting the old one. So in the intro- 
duction of the new truth the stock of related ideas 
already in the mind must be brought forward into con- 
sciousness in order to receive, to know, and to assimilate 
the new possesion. Appropriate preparation thus calls 
up the closely related truth formerly learned, and brings 
it forward in the mind to grasp, interpret, and assimilate 
the new matter. The similar old facts are aroused from 
their slumber and rush forward into consciousness, 
eager and ready to receive the new fact, which, ever 
afterward, is to be associated with them in r . ^ ■ 

' Introducing 

the most intimate family relationship. The the New to 
gardener prepares the seed bed, not only at 
the right time, but he gives it the kind of preparation 
which the character of the seed it is to receive demands. 
The bed that is desirable for one kind of seed is not 
always suitable for another. So the preparation of the 
child's mind by the teacher must be not only timely but 
also appropriate. The review must not only call up some 
past experiences, but the very experiences necessary for 
a mastery of the new matter. 

An illustration may help to bring out this thought more 
clearly. Last year, while visiting a school, the writer 
heard a young teacher attempt to present to a class for 
the first time the subject of similar surfaces in advanced 
arithmetic. No hints had been given in the assignment 
of the lesson, and at the beginning of the recitation 
nothing was done that would lead up to the subject under 
consideration, and thus prepare the pupil to grasp and 
understand it. Indeed, the first thing that was done 
was to ask the pupils to solve some of the difficult prob- 
lems. It is needless to say that they failed. But their 
failure was no worse than that of the teacher. The 



146 THE RECITATION 

problem he failed to solve was the problem of timely 
and appropriate preparation of the class for the consid- 
^ . . eration of the subject. His failure made 

Beginning: at '' 

the Wrong theirs possible and complete. There are 
Place. |.^^Q j^gg Q^ approach to this subject that 

would have helped, at least, to prepare the class to un- 
derstand it. The first is proportion, the second is square 
root. The class had studied both of these subjects. 
Their minds possessed groups of ideas closely related to 
the new subject through their knowledge of proportion 
and square root ; but these ideas had not been aroused 
and prepared to seize and understand what seemed new, 
but what was really old truth under a new name. 

After the study of proportion and square root they 
become the two known factors in similar surfaces. 
Through these the child must acquire a knowledge of 
Adjusting the the uukuown. They are, therefore, the lines 
Glasses. Qf approach to this subject, the glasses 

through which it is to be seen. But the teacher had not 
adjusted the glasses, and the class could not see. Both 
failed ; the teacher, because he did not see the lines of 
approach to the subject, and the class, because the 
preparation of mind to understand the new subject was 
neither timely nor appropriate. 

When a boy wishes to make a long jump, he goes 
back a few yards and then rushes forward at the top 
of his speed, in order to gather momentum for the 
leap. His preparation for it is thus both timely and 
appropriate. But the preparation for the leap is not 
more necessary than that required for the mind that is 
to make a vigorous and effective effort in compre- 
hending and assimilating the subject matter of the les- 
son. The gun boat clears for action. It removes what 



PREPARATION, THE FIRST FORMAL STEP I47 

is unnecessary, and brings forward what is required for 
the engagement. So the mind prepares for dearm the 
work by calling up what is needed, and re- Mind for 
moving to the realm of unconsciousness, Action. 
truth valuable in its place, but not necessary to the work 
at hand. 



TOPICAL OUTLINE 

I. — Formal Steps. 

1. Preparation. 

2. Presentation, 

3. Comparison. 

4. Generalization. 

5. Application. 

II. — Preparation. 

1. It must be timely. 

2. It must be appropriate. 



10 



PART II 

CHAPTER III 

PRESENTATION, THE SECOND FORMAL 

STEP 



Lay down a plan for everything, and stick to it inviolably. 

Chesterfield 

There is no substitute for thorough-going, ardent, and sincere 
earnestness. 

Dickens 

If a man play the true logician, and have judgment as well as 
invention, he may do great matters. 

Bacon 

Perspicuity ought never to be sacrificed in language or argu- 
ment. 

\ Kames 



CHAPTER III 

f^RESEN'Ti^TiON, THE SECOND FORMAL STEP 
Lay yotj'r ^lan^ \Vith' wis'd'olir.— BfeNGEL.' 

Presentation is just as necessaSry as preparation. Th6 
prepared mind cannot acquire without proper presenta- 
tion any more than a prepared field can produce a crop 
without the sowing of the seed. There can be no life, 
and no crop, without a vital union between the seed and 
the soil. The dormant life in the seed must be brought 
into right relations with the elements in the soil that will 
arouse and feed it. The result of this union is growth. 
So there can be no mental development sowing the 
until the subject matter of a lesson is brought ^^®^- 
into that peculiar relation to the mind that will result in 
its stimulation and growth. And presentation is the 
process by which this vitaKzing union is brought about. 

The proper presentation of the subject matter in the 
teaching process is of paramount importance. For 
knowledge without presentation is impossible. Even the 
representative faculties must have some basis of presen- 
tation, however small, before they can proceed to 
re-present. 

The subject matter of a lesson may be presented in 
various ways. The teacher may use the question 
method, the lecture method, or, in fact, any method. 
The process may be analytic or synthetic, inductive or 
deductive. The work may vary, but the purpose re- 
mains the same. That purpose is to bring the subject 

151 



152 THE RECITATION 

matter of the lesson to the mind in such a way that it will 
strive to seize and know the thing presented. 

In ordinary school work ideas are presented to the 
mind through the ear and the eye. This is the external 
part, but it is not all of the work of presentation. A 
sick man may look at medicine in a bottle, but it will not 
cure him until it is received and absorbed by his system. 
So the presentation of the subject matter before the mind 
is not sufficient in itself. There must be an inner ac- 
tivity working upon the presentation. The related ideas 
Mental Action witMu must be arouscd to action ; they must 
the Goal of come forward into consciousness and actually 
seize and know the new matter. And thus 
to arouse and direct this inner activity is the great aim 
of presentation. 

This is the point of failure for many. It is so easy 
to talk about the lesson, and so difficult to arouse and 
direct this inner activity, to actually put the mind to 
work upon the subject matter, that many well-meaning 
teachers substitute the former for the latter, and then 
wonder why the pupils make such slow progress. In 
the class-room you may often hear the teacher talk about 
the lesson, perhaps in a learned manner, deluding him- 
self with the notion that he is teaching, while the pupils, 
by their indifference, their listlessness, and their lack of 
interest, indicate that there is no inner activity respond- 
ing to his efforts. Such work is worthless. You might 
Talking versus just as wcll try to cxplore a cave without 
Teaching. entering it or to fill a bottle without remov- 
ing the cork. Teaching is a twofold process. It re- 
quires the interested co-operation of two persons,-— a 
teacher and a learner. There must be an external 
effort and an internal activity responding to it. And the 



PRESENTATION, THE SECOND FORMAL STEP 153 

evidence that the mind is aroused to action by the 
presentation is seen in the interest and attention of the 
pupil. They indicate that the known within is striving 
to know the unknown that the teacher is presenting. 
The act of teaching, then, is two fold. It includes, 

1. An exterraal presentation. 

2. An intepial activity. 

Both are essential, and the latter, as a rule, is the 
result of the former. But while the mind generally 
responds to skilful presentation, it is under no obligation 
to do so. The inner activity dominates. As Rosenkranz 
says, " It lets nothing act upon it unless it has rendered 
itself receptive to it." But while this is true the external 
presentation, under ordinary conditions, will so stimulate 
the mind as to arouse that inner activity. The key to 
the situation at this point is interest. If the presenta- 
tion is full of interest it opens the throttle-valves of 
mental action and unlocks the wheels of thought. If it 
is devoid of interest, the child is likely to turn its mind 
aside to the consideration of something irrelevant. The 
child's mind flits from one thing to another, as the bee 
flits from flower to flower. The bee seeks honey, the 
mind seeks that which will interest it. 

1. Presentation as an external process. The proper 
presentation of the subject matter of a lesson is not an 
easy task. It must vary somewhat with time and circum- 
stances, and yet a few general principles may be stated 
that will to some extent guide the teacher and throw 
some practical light upon this phase of the work. A 
good presentation must have at least six characteristics : 
It must be clear ^ strong^ logical^ to the pointy in accord- 
ance with some prearranged plan., and complete^ not frag- 
mentary. 



154 THE RECITATION' 

1. Presentation must be clear. Fog is fatal to photog- 
raphy. The camera that would record faithfully, print 
sharply, and reproduce accurately, must see clearly. So 
the mind that would receive readily, retain permanently, 
and express correctly, must see clearly. Good teaching 
always brings the thing to be seen and known out of the 
fog, and holds it up sharply and distinctly before the 
Hazy class. It thus teuds to give accuracy, dis- 

presentation tiuctuess, and permaucuce to the impression. 
Indistinct While a hazy presentation gives a hazy per- 
Recoiiections. ccptiou, and a hazy perception makes a dim 
impression, and a dim impression leaves an indistinct 
recollection, and that soon vanishes, and upon examina- 
tion day the child has nothing, not because the subject 
was not presented, but because the presentation was not 
clear. 

But the practical teacher may ask. What will enable 
me to make the presentation of the subject matter of a 
lesson clear? Though the problem itself is difficult, 
the answer is simple. No artist ever spread upon can- 
vas or carved into marble the image or the form of the 
thing he did not see clearly, either in the realms of the 
real or of the ideal. But the vision of the thing to be 
portrayed is not enough. Many a dreamer sees angels 
imprisoned in stone, but he can neither release nor re- 
veal them. The artist, in order to embody his visions, 
must have the necessary means, the appro- 
Thing to be priate tools, and the ability to use them with 
Taught. gj^iji ^^^ precision. The teacher's tools are 

thought and language. Hence, the clear presentation of 
a lesson depends upon three conditions : 

(a) The teacher must have a clear perception of the thing 
to be presented. 



PRESENTATION, THE SECOND FORMAL STEP 155 

(6) The teacher^s thought must be direct^ distinct, adequate, 
and logical. 

(c) The language of the presentation must be simple, 
direct, intelligible to the child, and free from all confusion 
of terms. 

If these conclusions are correct they reveal the im- 
portance of carefully reviewing and carefully planning a 
lesson before attempting to present it. 

2. Presentation must be strong. By strength we mean 
that quality of a presentation which tends to make its 
effect permanent. There may be many elements in 
strength, but three of them are of such importance as to 
demand our attention. They are clearness, earnestness, 
and repetition. 

(a) The first element in strength is clearness. In weld- 
ing two pieces of iron, the smith heats them to the 
proper degree, lays one upon the other, and both upon 
the anvil, and then delivers a few strong blows upon them 
with a hammer. This results in a permanent union. A 
few strong blows do what a hundred light taps would 
not accomplish. So, when the mind of the child is 
raised to the white heat of attention by the fires of 
interest, a clear presentation of the truth is Hkely to 
make a permanent impression. This, however, is clear- 
ness, not strength. But if clearness is not strength, it is 
at least the first element of it. 

(6) The second element in strength is earnestness. This 
quality does not necessarily make the teacher loud and 
boisterous in manner. It may only be a Earnestness is 
quiet, eager, urgent effort to get the class to irresistible, 
see and understand. But it is generally effective, for 
sincere, hearty earnestness is always vigorous and force- 
ful. Alley asserts that " Earnestness and simplicity 



156 THE RECITATION 

carry all before them." Heart power in the teacher is 
as important as head power. Sincerity and conviction 
are as essential as skill. The character, the individuality, 
and spirit of the teacher speak through his earnestness 
and zeal. Springing from the furnace fires of interest, 
earnest effort helps to raise the learner's mind to its 
highest degree of receptivity and to project the pres- 
entation toward it with greatest force. The result is 
a lesson well comprehended, deeply impressed, firmly 
fixed. The force of a moving body depends upon its 
size and rate of motion. And the whole-souled eager- 
ness, the intense interest, the sincere effort, and the 
serious earnestness that stand back of a presentation 
give it both size and rate, and, therefore, help to deter- 
mine the force with which it impresses itself upon the 
learner's mind. 

(c) The third element in strength is repetition. Clear- 
ness and earnestness are not always sufficient. Another 
Pounding the element is sometimes necessary. A drop of 
Rock to Sand, water falling upon a rock makes seemingly 
no impression, but if continued and repeated it grinds 
it to sand. Repetition, then, is an important element of 
strength. Hence the law : Clear presentations^ earnestly 
repeated^ become strong ones. Clearness aids the child in 
seeing the thing presented; earnestness and repetition 
help to fix it firmly in the mind. 

The number of repetitions needed to make clear pre- 
sentations strong depends, first, upon the attention of 
the learner ; second, upon the quality of his mind ; and, 
third, upon the nature of the subject matter. 

1. The attention of the learner is important. The 
mind cannot be forced to receive ; it must reach out to 
grasp what it wants. And the degree of attention indi- 



PRESENTATION, THE SECOND FORMAL STEP 157 

cates the eagerness with which it strives to grasp and 
know the thing presented. It follows, then, that a few 
repetitions when the mind is most alert and impression- 
able are better than many when it is only indifferently 
attentive. A few blows when the iron is hot accomplish 
more than a score when it is cold. 

2. The quality of the mind helps to determine the 
number of repetitions needed to comprehend and fix a 
lesson. Some minds are dull. They lack keen insight, 
deep penetration, and quick perception. They act slowly 
in receiving, comprehending, recording, and recalling 
what has been taught. They need more time to grasp 
a presentation and more repetitions of it to make it per- 
manent than are required by brighter minds. Hence, 
the number of presentations needed will depend some- 
what upon the quality of the learner's mind. 

3. The nature of the subject matter, too, will help to 
decide just how often a presentation must be repeated. 
Difficult subjects must be taught oftener than Di^cuit 
easy ones. Failure on examination may be subjects must 
due to the fact that while the presentation oftento^the 
of the lesson was clear it was not repeated ^^^^ ^^^'^• 
often enough to have the pupils grasp and retain it. 
For instance, one presentation of the analytic reason 
for inverting the divisor in division of fractions will 
scarcely be enough. It will generally be found neces- 
sary to repeat this process two or more times even 
with a bright class, and oftener with a dull one. 

Clearness, earnestness, and repetition are the elements 
of strength. The first alone will not always accomplish 
the purpose. Neither will the first and second acting 
together. But no normal mind can resist the united 
efforts of all. For earnest presentations that are clear, 



158 THE RECITATION 

if repeated often enough, must accomplish their pur- 
pose. 

3. Presentation must he logical. This is not a claim 
for the logical as against the pedagogical, but rather a 
plea for a more logical presentation of that which is 
pedagogical. It follows the line of De Garmo's thought^ 
that " the matter of instruction must not be presented in 
mass, but in small, logically connected sections.'"' The 
mind must be made to associate the parts of a lesson, 
and to bring them into consciousness as a logical unity, 
rather than to leave it distracted by the effort to com- 
prehend a confused mass of disconnected details. The 
logical relation of facts and parts of a lesson must 
not be disregarded in the presentation of its subject 
matter. 

Then, too, logical presentation accelerates the progress; 
of the learner. The mind is a logical organism. It 
tends to act along logical lines. It seeks logical relations. 
Teaching is simply pointing out these relations, and 
Swimming learning is seeing and comprehending them. 
with the It is evident that you make more progress 

swimming with the current than against it. 
And it is just as evident that the child will make 
more progress if the teacher points out these relations 
in the logical order in which the mind is looking for 
them. 

But what will enable the teacher to present the mate- 
rial of a lesson logically? The answer is simple, (a) 
The teacher must see the unity of the lesson he is to 
teach, (b) He must comprehend it also in its analytic 
parts and their relations. 

This suggests the necessity of reviewing subjects and 
revising old plans and outlines before using them. To 



PRESENTATION, THE SECOND FORMAL STEP 159 

every growing teacher the results of such a review is a 
clearer perception of the subject, a stronger grasp of its 
unity and analytic relations, and a plan of procedure 
more logical, pedagogical, and complete. 

But it suggests another important point. Like pro- 
duces like. Every instructor in a normal school and in 
all the higher institutions w^here teachers are trained 
ought to be clear and logical in thought. For teachers 
trained for any length of time by such instructors must 
acquire the habits of mind that will make them clear and 
logical in the presentation of the subject matter of a 
lesson when they in turn become instructors. 

4. Presentation must he to the point. It must be defi- 
nite, not indefinite ; specific, not general. A good drill 
will penetrate steel, but, like good teaching, it must have 
both point and edge. Such teaching always goes to the 
vitalizing centre of the thing that the child is to see, to 
think, to know. It disentangles that thing from every 
thing else, and points it out definitely and distinctly. It 
clears away all irrelevant rubbish and helps the pupil 
to focus the concentrated energies of his intellect upon 
the one thing at issue. It brings the mind mttingthe 
of the child not near the point under con- Naiionthe 

Head 

sideration, but to it. It turns the search- 
light of his intellect not only into the region, but to the 
very spot where the thing to be known is to become 
luminous and distinct. 

5. Presentation must be loyal to a true aim and faithful 
to an orderly plan. Blind, hap-hazard presentation 
is as devoid of results as it is of skill. Aim must give it 
unity ; and plan, order. The general without an aim and 
a plan for battle invites defeat. And the presentation 
without aim and plan invites failure. 



160 THE RECITATION 

But these are of little value unless the presentation, at 
every stage of the work, is true to the aim and loyal to 
the plan. Aim is the compass, plan is the chart. Follow 
Drifting with them, and you accomplish at least a measure 
the Tide. gf succcss ; dcscrt them, and you drift idly 

with the current, inviting its tides to carry you away from 
rather than to the desired haven. 

Two statements will sum up this matter : 

(d) Every good presentation has a true aim. 

(b) Every good presentation follows an orderly plan. 

The exigencies of the case and the content of the sub- 
ject matter determine the aim ; logical and pedagogical 
judgment arranges the plan ; and fidelity to aim and loy- 
alty to plan acting through skilful presentation carry the 
work forward to the desired end. 

A geography lesson, for example, may be a unit. 
The teacher analyzes it into its fundamental and sub- 
ordinate parts. These parts are to be considered in 
certain sequence and the emphasis placed here and 
there upon important points. The plan fixes^the logical 
order in which they are to be considered. It unfolds the 
subject naturally and leads the child along the lines of 
easy acquisition to the philosophic standpoint where he 
can see both ways clearly, back to the acting cause, and 
then forward to the resulting effect. 

The plan may be written or unwritten, definite or in- 
definite, logical or illogical, but every teacher, in justice to 
himself and to the child, should have, not only a plan, 
but the best plan he can make ; because his own intel- 
lectual growth and that of the child are measured in any 
recitation by the execution of a logical plan. 

6. Presentation must be complete. Every lesson has 
its unity. It may be a subdivision of a subject, a para- 



PRESENTATION, THE SECOND FORMAL STEP 161 

graph, or a group of related paragraphs. But whatever it 
may include it has a unity more or less well defined. As 
such, the lesson has essential features and those that tend 
to elaborate them. If there is sufficient time both the 
major and the minor thought of the subject Major Thought 
matter may be brought out. But if the time must be 
is limited, the fundamental facts essential to ^"^ 
the unity of the lesson should be presented even if some 
subordinate matter must be omitted. 

This is evident, first, because the fundamental truths 
that constitute the unity of a lesson are of more worth 
than unimportant details ; and, second, because they 
generally lie deeply hidden and are, therefore, more 
likely to evade the superficial efforts made in the prepa- 
ration of a lesson. 

Instruction moves forward by stages, steps, or lesson 
unities. And each, as far as possible, should be full and 
complete, not partial and fragmentary, It should include 
all its essential features and as much of their elaboration 
as the case demands and as time permits. 

The habits of drifting in a recitation, of wasting time 
on unimportant details or irrelevant discussions, and of 
leaving the essential features of the lesson unimportant 
unity incomplete are as detrimental to the Details require 
intellectual progress of the child as they are ^ ® ^^^' 
to the pedagogic growth of the teacher. The unity of a 
recitation is embodied in its beginning, its purpose, its 
plan, its essential features, and its end. And the wise 
teacher, with the idea of completeness in mind, starts at the 
beginning, proceeds according to the plan^ presents its essen- 
tial parts, attains the end, and stops when he is through. 

External presentation, then, is marked by these quali- 
ies : It is clear, strong, logical, and to the point ; it is 



162 THE RECITATION 

loyal to a true aim and faithful to an orderly plan; 
and the teacher who with earnestness and vigor thus 
presents the subject matter of a lesson in its unity will, 
in all probability, arouse the mind to appropriate action 
and meet with a large measure of success. 

2. The inner activity. The external phase of pre- 
sentation is important, but not more so than its inner 
activity. A block of wood will not serve as a camera, 
A Block of because there can be no inner response to 
Wood is not external presentation. So the inner activity 

amera. ^^ ^^^ mind is just as essential in the act of 
learning as the external presentation. This activity is 
generally the result of the presentation. They stand in 
relation of cause and effect. If the presentation is earnest 
and skilful, embodying the qualities just described, it 
will in all probability stimulate the mind to vigorous 
action. 

Three characteristics of this inner phase of presentation 
are worthy of notice. Mental action must be aroused, 
sustained, and directed. 

1. Mental action must be a7'oused. Strength is the 
result of action. The muscle that remains inactive be- 
comes weak and flabby, and actually loses to the point of 

paralysis the strength it has. So faculties 

Mental Action f, . *^ , . . i • . m 

the First that are dormant not only gam no strength. 

Effort of ]3^|- jj^ ^jj^g actually arrow weaker. The first 

Instruction. " ^ 

effort of instruction is to arouse mental action. 
If it fails at this point, its failure is complete. Every 
external presentation, then, is worthless unless it stimu- 
lates mental action. For motion means life, growth, and 
strength, while stagnation is the forerunner of decay, 
and decay of death. 

2. Mental action must be sustained. The hare that made 



PRESENTATION, THE SECOND FORMAL STEP 163 

a spurt of speed and then lay down to rest lost the race. 
The tortoise that sustained a steady gait was in the end 
successful. The strong horse that pulls and balks at 
pleasure is unreliable. An inferior animal, whose efforts 
are sustained and regular, is far more desirable. So 
the mind should not be alert and dormant at intervals 
during the recitation. Its activity, rather, should be 
sustained and regular. 

The aim of education is to develop a mind that can 
act steadily and regularly along any given line to which 
its energies may be directed. It thus becomes a ready, 
steady, reliable servant of the will. And such a mind 
is not the result of action that manifests itself in spurts 
and starts at sundry times and irregular intervals, but 
of that quality of action that is sustained and regular. 

But what will enable the teacher to sustain mental 
action during a recitation? And what indicates the 
success of his efforts ? 

(a) Continuous interest sustains mental action. 

(6) Continuous attention is the evidence of it. 

The one is the cause, the other the effect. The phy- 
sician knows the flow of the blood by the j,^^ p^j^^ ^^ 
throb of the pulse. Attention is the pulse Mental Action, 
of mental action. And continuous attention is the exter- 
nal evidence of sustained mental action. 

3. Mental action must be directed. For a thousand 
years the waters of Niagara rushed over the falls in 
awe-inspiring sublimity. They were uncontrolled, and 
laughed at the efforts of man to use them. To-day 
they are led out into channels, through turbine wheels 
and thus are directed, harnessed, controlled, and whir 
the wheels of industry with tireless activity. Fire and 
water, uncontrolled, are dangerous as elements and use- 



164 THE RECITATION 

less as motors ; but harnessed, hitched, directed, con- 
trolled, and managed, they are man's best friends, bring- 
ing the dollars of the world to the doors of his home 
and lifting him above the level of human drudgery. 
So it is not enough to arouse and sustain mental action. 
It must be directed to a specific purpose, and controlled 
by a specific aim. It must be aroused, directed, and 
controlled in the line indicated by the aim and purpose 
of the recitation. And it must continue to act in this 
The Compass direction until the end is attained and the 
that guides. couclusiou reached. And the unity of aim in 
the teacher''s mind, acting through the instrumentalities of 
the presentation, is the compass that guides and the hand 
that directs. 

Presentation is not all of the recitation. But it is a 
most important part of the teacher's work. It is through 
presentation that tact, insight, skill, personality, and 
power make themselves felt. It is by it that the teacher 
teaches, and through it that the pupil learns. For it the 
school was organized, and from it the child draws much 
that the school gives. In its external phase, presentation 
must be clear, strong, logical, to the point, loyal to a true 
aim, faithful to an orderly plan, and complete. And such 
presentation is likely to arouse, sustain, and direct the 
mental action of the child and thus accomplish its pur- 
pose. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

PRESENTATION 

I. — Its External Characteristics. 

1. It must be clear. This depends upon three conditions : 
(a) The thing to be presented must be clearly per- 
ceived. 



165 

(b) The teacher's thought must be direct, distinct, 

adequate, and logical. 

(c) The language of the presentation must be free 

from confusion of terms. 

2. It must be strong. The elements of strength are : 

(a) Clearness. 

(b) Earnestness. 

(c) Repetition. The number of repetitions depends 

upon : 

1. The degree of attention of the pupil. 

2. The quality of his mind. 

3. The nature of the subject matter. 

3. It must be logical. This depends upon a logical per- 

ception of 
[a] The unity of the presentation, 
(c) Its analytic parts and their relation. 

4. It must be to the point. 

5. It must be loyal to : 

(a) A true aim. 
(c) An orderly plan. 
6. It must be complete. 

II. — Its Inner Activity. 

1. Mental action must be aroused. 

2. Mental action must be sustained. 

1. Continuous interest sustains mental action. 

2. Continuous attention is the evidence of it. 

3. Mental action must be directed and controlled : 

(a) By unity of aim. 

(b) By the instrumentalities of the presentation. 



PART II 

CHAPTER IV 

COMPARISON, THE THIRD FORMAL 
STEP 



11 



It may startle you to learn that the higher function of the mind 
is nothing higher than comparison. 

Sir William Hamilton 

Every act of thinking, whether it be to analyze our concepts, or 
to combine the elements that result from analysis, into new forms, 
includes inevitably a comparison. 

Welch 

A cardinal defect in most men's thinking is that they have no 
well-established standards of comparison. 

Morgan 



CHAPTER IV 

COMPARISON, THE THIRD FORMAL STEP 

It may startle you to learn that the highest function of the mind 
is nothing higher than comparison. — Sir William Hamilton. 

The third formal step in the recitation is comparison. 
It might at first thought be called association, as this pro- 
cess is included in it as an important part. But while 
this is true, association is subordinate to, rather than co- 
ordinate with, comparison. And yet in this discussion it 
may be wise to separate them and treat them somewhat 
as co-ordinate elements. 

1. Comparison. Comparison so dominates this step 
as to name it. The purpose of presentation is to stimu- 
late and direct mental action. And the activity of first 
importance at this stage of the work is comparison. It 
is a prominent factor both in the act of learning and that 
of teaching. It, therefore, has a ^psychological as well as 
a practical side and may be considered from each stand- 
point. 

1. The psychological aspect of comparison. In pre- 
sentation the inner activities examine the new material 
of knowledge and lay hold of it in the act of apprehen- 
sion. 

But the mind is not satisfied with mere apprehension. 
It demands more complete and intimate knowledge of 
the things apprehended. It, therefore, proceeds to ex- 
amine them intimately, one by one, through the processes 
of analysis, comparison, abstraction, and generalization, 
in an effort to comprehend them. This is pre-eminently 

169 



170 THE RECITATION 

the stage of comprehension in the act of learning. But 
the comprehension of any subject or thing is the result 
of the thinking faculties. You know a fact when you 
have comprehended it in its unity, its analytic parts and 
their relations, in its history and its application. And 
such knowledge is the result of vigorous and systematic 
thought. 

(a) There are three well-defined stages in the thinking 
process. The first is conception, the second judgment, 
stages in the ^^^ ^^^ third reasoning. The first begins 
Thinking with pcrccpts, and by analysis, comparison, 

abstraction, and generalization works them 
into concepts. This is thinking in the first stage, in its 
most elementary form. 

(b) The second stage begins with concepts, and by 
examination, comparison, discovery, and decision reaches 
a conclusion and states it in the form of a judgment. 
This, too, is thinking, but in a more advanced stage than 
the first. 

(c) The third begins by examining and comparing two 
or more judgments, and by inference, or deduction, forms 
a third one, based upon or growing out of their 
relations. This is what is usually termed reasoning, 
or thought in its highest form. The fundamental factors, 
then, in the thinking process are conception, judgment, 
and reasoning. And these include analysis, comparison, 
association, abstraction, and generalization. 

It is to be noted that comparison holds a most impor- 
tant place in the art of thinking. It is present in an 
Reasoning a elementary form even in conception. And 
Comparison in judgment and reasoning, the highest forms 

u gmen s. ^^ thought, it is the dominant factor, the 
very pivot upon which thought turns. For judgment is 



COMPARISON, THE THIRD FORMAL STEP 171 

practically a comparison of concepts and reasoning is a 
comparison of judgments. Sir William Hamilton asserts 
that " The highest function of the mind is nothing higher 
than comparison." And since the learning process at this 
stage is pre-eminently a thinking process, it practically 
dominates the work in this formal step. 

Much of the practical value of the teacher Hes in his 
ability to suggest comparisons and to direct the mind in 
making them. He fixes firmly the standards of meas- 
urement, points out similarities or differences, shows the 
child how to estimate them, and guides his mind until a 
correct conclusion is reached. He keeps the mind busy 
reaching conclusions and stating them. This is the pro- 
cess ordinarily called judgment, and every judgment is 
simply the conclusion of an act of comparison stated. 

A few questions may help to illustrate this from the 
practical standpoint. How does the size of Ohio compare 
with that of Pennsylvania? How does Asia compare 
with Europe in surface, in form, and in extent ? How do 
they differ in religion, in education, in government, and 
in civilization ? In what particulars does the coast line of 
South America resemble that of Africa ? How does it 
differ from that of Europe ? What similarities and what 
differences are found in the climates of Labrador and 
England ? 

Either the judgment or the memory must supply 
answers to these questions. If the answers come from 
the memory the work is very shallow and superficial, but 
if they spring from the judgment nothing short of tha 
process of comparison can supply them. 

In each act of comparison suggested by these questions, 
the child tries to comprehend the unknown by measuring, 
weighing, or judging it by the similar known thing. It 



172 THE RECITATION 

holds the two concepts before the mind, looks from one to 
the other, compares them in the way suggested by the 
question, discovers their resemblance or difference, meas- 
ures its extent and reaches a conclusion about them, and 
states it. To do this is to think^ to learn, to comprehend, 
Measure the ^^ ^^^ ^^^ unknown through the known. Judg- 
unknownby mcut is the statement announcing that the 
^°^°' unknown has been transformed into the 
known ; but comparison is the process by which the 
mmd discovers the former in the latter. In presentation 
the whole effort is to arouse, sustain, and direct mental 
action ; and the mental action thus directed will, in all 
probability, be rewarded by discovering what it seeks. 

2. The discussion of the practical side of the question 
may be included in two suggestions : 

(a) Furnish the mind with accurate and fixed stand- 
ards of comparison. 

(b) Train the mind to use them. 

Teaching, to a very great extent, consists in giving to 
the student fixed standards and in training him in their 
use. 

(a) Fixed standards of comparison. It is difficult to 
measure if you have no fixed unit by which to estimate 
the unknown. And it is just as difficult for a child to 
estimate a new thing by comparison without some known 
standard of measurement. All science rests upon fixed 
standards of size and extent, form and motion. Science 
is classified knowledge. And classification is as impos- 
sible without comparison as comparison is without the 
use of known standards. All intellectual attainment is 
estimated by fixed standards of knowledge, and all moral 
excellence by fixed principles of right and wrong. 

How long is this line ? The child who knows the num- 



COMPARISON, THE THIRD FORMAL STEP 173 

ber of feet in a yard and has a well-fixed notion of the 
length of a foot may answer with some degree of cer- 
tainty. The accuracy of his judgment depends upon the 
accuracy of his fixed standards used as the basis of 
comparison. What is the color of this flower? The 
child cannot answer until he has referred it to his fixed 
notion of primary colors. The perception of the color 
of the flower as he attempts to answer will be decided 
by his color concepts, — that is, his fixed standards of 
colors. Is this composition a piece of good English? 
Before answering the critic compares it with the fixed 
known standards, established by style, syn- Thevaiue 
tax, and rhetoric. If these standards are f^ ^f ^^ 

' ... standards m 

sharp, clear, distinct, and accurate, his opinion estimating 
will have some weight. For the value of his the unknown. 
opinion depends upon the accuracy of his standards. Is 
alcohol a food ? The student who has not fixed notions 
of what constitutes a food, and of the effects of alcohol, 
may give an opinion, but it is worthless. Is this act 
right ? Before answering the pupil must measure it by 
the fixed principles that separate right from wrong, or 
his opinion will not be worth the words that express it. 
Thus all sound judgment and substantial opinion are the 
results of acts of comparison in which the known fixed 
standard tries to measure and estimate the unknown. 

How important, then, that the school give to the child 
fixed standards of comparison ! In arithmetic he can make 
little progress without the multiplication table and the 
tables of weights and measurements. A 

, , J not'' 1- 1 1 The Endless 

knowledge of factonng is essential to progress chains of 

in algebra. A knowledge of the fixed terms, ca^seand 
rules, definitions, and principles of any science 

lies at the very basis of its mastery by the student. 



174 THE RECITATION 

Truth is the endless cham of cause and effect. Every 
cause has its effect, and every effect in turn becomes a 
cause. Cause, then, may be a standard of comparison 
by which to estimate effect, just as effect may be the 
standard to estimate the cause. But whether we go 
from cause to effect or from effect to cause, the stand- 
ard — that is, the thing known — measures our progress 
and establishes the accuracy of our conclusions. 

Accuracy of conclusion, clearness of thought, and 
soundness of judgment rest primarily upon comparison, 
and comparison turns upon the importance of fixed and 
accurate standards of knowledge. In the physical world 
science has estabhshed fixed standards of size, weight, 
form, color, taste, and odor, and of all the qualities of mat- 
ter. In the intellectual world these standards are the 
tables, principles, terms, rules, definitions, and laws of 
science. In the moral world they are the principles of 
ethics and the rules of conduct. Science fixes these 
standards for the race, but the school must give their 
mastery to the child. A knowledge of them is the 
goal of instruction. The test of thinking is 
Judgment accuracy, and accuracy of conclusion is meas- 
and Fixed urcd by the permanent standards of compari- 

Standards of , i • n • n j^ i • /> 

Comparison. SOU ; heucc to give them is the first aim of 
the school. 
(6) Train the child in the use of the^e fixed standards. 
The two desirable qualities of comparison are accuracy 
and facility. The former depends upon a knowledge of 
the fixed standards, the latter upon their use. Skill 
grows with practice. The child must use the multiplica- 
tion table. He must use the tables in denominate 
numbers, even to the handling of actual weights and 
measures. The sand box, the scales and the quart 



COMPARISON, THE THIRD FORMAL STEP 175 

measure help to give both knowledge and facility. The 
child must be trained to use the rules of syntax, the 
principles of logic, the laws of science, the generalization 
of truth, and the standards of moral conduct. Truth 
must be kept in action, in motion, in use, or knowledge 
of it will rust. 

Know and use. These are two of the shortest, yet 
perhaps two of the greatest, admonitions of pedagogy. 
Know the fixed standards and use them and thought will 
be clear, judgment accurate, conclusions correct, and 
opinions respected. The cardinal defects in school work 
are due either to an ignorance of these standards or to 
the inability to use them. A pair of scales is serviceable 
only when one has the weights and knows how to use 
them. Comparison is the scales of the mind. The scales 
And if the child would weigh the subject mat- the Mind. 
ter of a lesson with some degree of accuracy, he must 
have fixed standards of comparison and know how to 
use them. 

2. Association. Association is the second element in 
the third formal step. It is a secondary factor, and yet 
it is important in its place. Comparison helps us to sort 
out and classify our experiences according to their simi- 
larities, or their differences, and to estimate the extent of 
either. Memory preserves these experiences, recollec- 
tion recalls them, recognition identifies them ; while as- 
sociation binds them into groups, or unites them into 
trains, so that when one idea is recalled it suggests the 
next, and then the next, until the whole group or train 
is brought into consciousness. Association, then, is the 
process by which one idea present in the mind suggests 
another. 

This subject, like comparison, has two aspects, — the 



176 THE RECITATION 

psychological and the practical. The one shows the 
operation of the psychical laws by which the suggestions 
are made, the other shows how to consider ideas in the 
work of instruction in order to aid these laws. 

1. The psychological aspect of association. Ideas pres- 
ent in the mind suggest related ones and those with 
which they were formerly associated. This is the 
general law. The important thing is to ascertain just 
how the mind acts in associating its experiences so that 
one will suggest another. Mental science has thrown 
much light on this subject and lifted it above the level 
of theoretical speculation. It shows that the mind acts 
in accordance with well-established laws in making its 
associations, so that one present in consciousness will 
suggest another. The most prominent of these laws may 
be designated as follows : 

{a) The law of similarity. 

(6) The law of contrast. 

(c) The law of contiguity. 

{d) The law of correlation. 

(a) The law of similarity. Similar ideas suggest each 
other. This is a prominent law of association. If a 
friend relates some incident, you immediately think of 
one like it. Two story-tellers will occupy hours telling 
stories, each alternating with the other. One calls up 
another seemingly without effort. In speaking of great 
orators, if Webster is mentioned, Calhoun and Clay will 
immediately be suggested. In considering the death of 
McKinley, you are sure to think of that of Garfield and 
Lincoln. Think of the inventive genius of Edison in 
the field of electricity and it will suggest that of Marconi. 
If you read of Herbert Spencer's intellect as one of the 
most capacious of all time, you at once think of Bacon, 



COMPARISON, THE THIRD FORMA L STEP 177 

Kant, or Aristotle. Thus an idea present in the mind 
suggests others Hke it. 

(6) The law of contrast. Contrasted ideas suggest 
one another. This law is just as positive as the law of 
similarity. In discussing temperature, the idea of ex- 
treme heat will suggest extreme cold. In the same 
manner war suggests peace ; light, darkness ; vice, virtue ; 
and truth, error. In speaking of the rapidity and con- 
venience of the modern express train, your mind will 
immediately call up the old stage coach with its lumber- 
ing gait and its lack of comforts. The wealth of the 
rich is far removed from the poverty of the poor, yet one 
drags the other into consciousness by the operation of 
this law. For contrasted ideas are so tied together that 
the consideration of the one without thinking of the 
other is difficult, or almost impossible. 

(c) The law of contiguity. Ideas once closely associ- 
ated in time or place suggest each other. Last year, as 
you drove through the country, at a certain place a 
rabbit ran across the road. The fact seemingly is for- 
gotten ; but this season, as you approach the same spot, 
the incident and everything associated with it rushes 
into your mind. You are introduced to a gentleman at 
some time or place and under some peculiar circum- 
stances. The place or time will suggest the circum- 
stances, and the next time you meet the gentleman you 
will recall the former occasion and all things connected 
with it. This law is important and far-reaching. It 
gives to the mind a marvellous power to call forth its 
related ideas. 

{d) The law of correlation of ideas. Ideas closely 
and mutually related suggest each other. Correlative 
terms are mutually suggestive. In language the word 



178 THE RECITATION 

stands for the idea; you see one but think the other. 
Symbols suggest their signs. The term wife suggests 
husband ; mother, daughter ; cause, effect ; the begin- 
ning, the end ; the first, the last ; and the subject, the 
predicate. Ratio seems tied to proportion, antecedent 
to consequent, involution to evolution. This is the great 
law of association. All knowledge is related ; and this 
law unites facts into trains by relation, so that one fact 
in consciousness calls forth the nearest related one, and 
that fact calls forth another. 

2. The practical aspect of association. In recalling 
its experiences the mind acts in accordance with these 
laws. They may, however, be either aided or retarded 
in their operation by the character of the teacher's work. 
The skilful teacher, understanding them and their far- 
reaching influences, will so associate ideas in the work 
of instruction as to help, rather than hinder, the mind in 
its efforts to recall. Ideas, like birds of a feather, flock 
together, and the teacher should use these laws of 
association as far as possible to encourage this flocking 
tendency. Skilful presentation, which is only another 
Fiockin name for skilful teaching, swims with the 

Tendency of currcut, uot agaiust it. It utilizes, rather 
than antagonizes, the laws of the mind. It 
recognizes them, uses them, prepares work for them, 
co-operates with them, and acts by and through them. 
Indeed, good teaching may be defined as the art of pre- 
senting truth according to these laws. 

Growing out of these laws of association, and answer- 
ing to them, are four practical suggestions that may be 
given for the guidance of the teachers : 

(a) The association of similar ideas in the work of in- 
struction aids the mind in keeping and recalling its ex- 



COMPARISON, THE THIRD FORMAL STEP 179 

periences. The new idea should be compared to and 
associated with the similar known one. This is at once 
the best way to know the new thing and to aid the mxind 
in recalling it. 

This principle may sometimes be extended with great 
profit beyond the bomidary of similar ideas to the study 
of two or more similar topics. For a topic is only a 
unity of related ideas, and what appHes to one in the 
group, through the law of their unity, applies to all. 
This principle is especially in place in reviews, when the 
aim is not so much to impart fresh truth as to deepen 
impression and aid the mind in storing its ideas for 
future use. In such cases chronological order, and even 
Similarity of cause and effect, so important in the work 
Topic. Qf instruction, may occasionally give place to 

similarity of topic. For example, it may be wise in 
history to review all the acquisitions of territory, all the 
slavery struggles, all the monetary legislation, or all the 
tariff contests consecutively. Instead of studying con- 
secutively chronological cross-sections of the current of 
history, as is ordinarily done, it is both wise and 
pedagogical to take a single idea and trace it from its 
origin in all its changes as it floats down the stream of 
time. 

(6) The association of contrasted ideas in the work of 
instruction aids the mind in recalling its experiences. This 
rule is no less important than the preceding one, 
although it may be more limited in its application. The 
new material in the lesson must be associated, not only 
with similar known matter, but also with that which is 
in sharp contrast. 

In considering the virtue of one man the law of 
similarity would suggest corresponding virtues in another. 



180 THE RECITATION 

But the law of contrast must not be disregarded. In 
associating the new with the old, vice must be contrasted 
with virtue, truth with falsehood, purity with corruption, 
generosity with selfishness, and strength with weakness. 
Bacon, whom Byron called " the greatest, wisest, meanest 
of mankind," was a wise judge, but he was foolish 
enough to accept bribes. Rousseau was so interested in 
children that he told the world how to educate them, 
and yet he was so little interested in his own as to leave 
them to the tender solicitude of an asylum for foundlings. 
Marcus Aurelius is one of the most lovable characters in 
The Emphasis ^^^ Mstory, yet he persecuted the Christians, 
of Contrast. jjis " Mcditatious" embody much of the 
ethics of the Man of Galilee, yet he was only a pagan. 
Goldsmith's works are as full of wisdom as his acts are 
of folly. And Johnson, whose style is so stately and 
majestic, was himself uncouth and repulsive. Truth has 
its extremes, its contrasts, and its paradoxes. And the 
wise teacher, in the act of instruction, not only em- 
phasizes similar ideas, but also those in contrast, — the old 
with the new, and the new with the old. For, in teach- 
ing, contrasts sharply drawn help to fix truth and to aid 
the mind in recalling it. And the teaching that calls up 
these contrasts works through two laws of association, — 
the law of contrast and the law of contiguity. 

(c) Ideas considered at the same time in the work of. in- 
struction aid the mind in recalling them. This is in har- 
mony with the law of contiguity and needs no discussion. 
It is wise, however, for the teacher to seize upon, and 
bring together in the work of instruction, the essentia! 
principles, the vital elements of a subject, the old and the 
new, rather than to aid the mind in recalling knowledge 
not worth knowing. 



COMPARISON, THE THIRD FORMAL STEP 181 

(d) Pointing out to the pupil the intimate and mutual 
relations of truth aids his mind in keeping and recalling the 
experiences thus united. In history, geography, physi- 
ology, — in fact, in every science, — cause and effect bind 
whole subjects together, and the discovery of their 
mutual relations helps the mind to recall myriads of 
facts thus unified. 

The language of instruction must be transparent. The 
child must see, not words, but ideas and their relations. 
The thing symbolized must be seen through its sign. 
Cause and effect must stand out as complementary parts 
of a great unity, the one acting, the other resulting. Re- 
lations mutual^ reciprocal^ causal^ and logical cardinal 
are the cardinal virtues of all real instruction. Virtues of 
It must point them out, hold them up, and 
hand them over to the grasping mind of the child. And 
the teacher who can do this not only teaches well, but 
also trains the mind to retain and recall these relations 
readily and accurately. 

Comparison is the third formal step in the recitation, 
but it includes also association. Both are vital. The 
first is the foundation of the thinking process, the second 
is the key to representation. The one helps Association the 
the mind to hnou\ the other to recall. The Key to Repre- 
one discovers relations, the other binds them 
together into groups convenient for recalling. The one 
demands standards of comparison and the ability to use 
them, the other trains the mind to recall these standards 
when needed. 

The first formal step prepares the mind for the recep- 
tion of truth. The second presents it. And the third 
aids the mind in knowing., in keeping^ and in recalling it. 



182 THE RECITATION 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

I. — Comparison. 

1. The psychological aspects of comparison. 

(a) Comparison as the basis of conception. 

(b) Comparison as the basis of judgment. 

(c) Comparison as the basis of reasoning. 

2. The practical aspects of comparison. 

(a) Fixed standards of comparison. 

(b) Ability to use them. 

II. — Association. 

1. The psychological aspects of association. 

(a) The law of similarity. 

(b) The law of contrast. 

(c) The law of contiguity. 

(d) The law of correlation. 

2. The practical aspect of association. 

{a) The association of similar ideas in the work of 
instruction aids the mind in recalling its ex- 
periences. 

(b) The association of contrasted ideas has a like 

effect. 

(c) Ideas considered at the same time in instruction 

aid the mind in recalling them. 

(d) Seeing the intimate relation of ideas aids the mind 

in recalling them. 



PART II 

CHAPTER V 

GENERALIZATION, THE FOURTH 
FORMAL STEP 



12 



Generalization is only the apprehension of the oiie in the many. 

Sir William Hamilton 

The poorest service you can render a pupil is to give him a 

ready-made definition. 

Agassiz 

Diligence ensures success. 

R. G. Parker 

To assign the lesson in accordance with the ability of the 
class to acquire, requires judgment, knowledge, and a large share 
of common sense. 

Selected 



CHAPTER V 
GENERALIZATION, THE FOURTH FORMAL STEP 

Generalization is the goal of instruction. — McMurry. 

We have considered three formal steps in the recita- 
tion, and are now prepared to study the fourth, which 
is ordinarily designated as generalization. In the first 
stages of the learning process the mind examines individ- 
ual facts, acquires an intimate knowledge of them, and 
then relates it with similar old knowledge according to 
the laws of association. In this formal step it advances 
to a higher plane and acquires general notions from an 
examination of individual cases. It passes over from 
the consideration of things concrete to the considera- 
tion of abstract qualities common to a class. It no 
longer contemplates things individual, because it has 
focused its energies on things general. In short, it has 
reached general truths through the examination of par- 
ticular cases by the process called generalization. 

An illustration will make this clear. One may exam- 
ine the individual records of a number of business men, 
note that each is scrupulously honest, and that each 
seems to prosper in business. This knowledge is the 
result of the individual investigation made in the third 
formal step. The mind is now ready to generalize. It 
rejects every other fact in the records of the men except 
their honesty and prosperity, and proceeds to abstract 
these two qualities and to generalize by stating that 
"honesty is the best policy." 

Generalization is of great importance. The preceding 

185 



186 THE RECITATION 

steps exist for it. To reach general truths and to apply 
them is the true aim of all instruction. And teaching 
Teaching that that falls short of this end is incomplete and 
GeneraSzluon uusatisfactory. Generalization makes truth 
is Incomplete, universal in its application. It compresses 
knowledge into those convenient condensations in which 
the mind stores it and holds it for future use. It is the 
culmination of the thinking process and gives its highest 
finished product. Generalizations form the frame-work 
of science. Indeed, science may be defined as a system 
of related generalizations. The mind examines, acquires, 
and interprets with what it has. And since its posses- 
sions are largely in the form of generalizations they con- 
stitute the capital stock with which it works. They are 
the known standards that come forward into conscious- 
ness to examine, measure, weigh, and interpret the 
unknown, and thus transform it into the known, and to 
give it suitable classification among the mind's permanent 
possessions. Thus generalization renders a valuable 
service in aiding the mind to acquire, interpret, and 
organize new knowledge, and to condense it into con- 
sistent forms for practical use. 

In the discussion of this step, attention is called to 
two important considerations : 

1. Generalization gives rules ^ definitions^ principles^ laws^ 
and maxims. 

2. Generalization comes after presentation and com- 
parison. 

1. Generalization gives rules, definitions, principles, 
laws, and maxims. " Processes precede rules," because 
the latter grow out of the former. A rule is simply a 
guiding summary of the salient features of a process. 
After preparation of the mind the process is presented. 



GENERALIZATION, THE FOURTH FORMAL STEP 187 

It is carefully observed and studied. After similar 
examples have been studied, and the essential charac- 
teristics noted, the mind sees, grasps, and understands 
the process. It is then ready to summarize the essen- 
tial features in the process, and to generahze and formu- 
late its ov^n rules by reducing them to a clear, terse, 
general guiding statement. The examination of the 
process shows the child what each step is, and why it is 
necessary. The rule is simply a sign-board, telling him 
how to proceed. 

Definitions are reached in the same manner, for every 
definition is a generalization. The examination of things 
naturally precedes and leads to the definition of them. 
It is impossible to define a thing until you know what it 
is. Examination, then, precedes definition. For instance, 
a child that has examined a number of points of land 
piercing the water, and noted their fundamental char- 
acteristics, is ready to define a cape. Likewise, when he 
has examined a number of similar statements, and studied 
their essential elements, he is ready to generalize his 
knowledge and define a sentence. And when the mind 
has ascended from the perception of individual notions 
to the conception of the essential qualities of a class, it is 
ready to summarize them and formulate a definition. 
In other words, examination and study lead up to, and 
must, therefore, precede, definition. 

The same is true of principles, laws, maxims, and 
proverbs. They stand side by side with rules and defini- 
tions. They, too, are the generalization of truth, the 
convenient condensation of knowledge, and the frame- 
work of science. A general could not command an army 
by directing individuals in the ranks. Control and direc- 
tion are possible only through officers. Generalizations 



188 THE RECITATION 

are the mind's regimental officers of knowledge. By 
them it organizes, classifies, controls, and marshals at 
will the myriads of facts in its vast army. And as the 
commander-in-chief creates and commissions the officers 
needed to carry out his instructions, so generalization 
creates the rules, definitions, principles, and laws neces- 
sary to the proper organization of the mind's facts and 
forces. The head of the army must know his com- 
manding officers, and as many of the privates as pos- 
sible, but if the army is large he is scarcely expected to 
know all. So the man of culture may not be familiar 
with all the minor details of knowledge in its various 
ramifications, but he must at least know the generaliza- 
cuitureisin tious of truth, which Constitute the frame- 
Quaiity, not work of all scieuce. His knowledge is ex- 

Quantity. i • • i i • i • i 

tensive m a general way, and intensive only 
in a Hmited field. He knows the general principles in 
many sciences, but is an expert master of details only 
within a limited range. Hamilton Mabie suggests that 
culture is always in quality and not in quantity of knowl- 
edge. 

Generalization is the aim, but not the end, of instruction. 
It is an essential port of entry, but not the end of the 
journey. Application is the final destination. But knowl- 
edge must be generalized before it can be conveniently 
applied. Effective instruction, then, must crystallize into 
generalizations. The mind must be able to recapitulate, 
summarize, and organize its knowledge. And the fourth 
formal step in the recitation should give that power. If 
the essential features of a subject have been presented 
clearly, tersely, and logically ; if the new material has 
been thoroughly compared with the old, interpreted by 
it and associated with it, the pupil ought to be able to 



GENERALIZATION, THE FOURTH FORMAL STEP 189 

summarize and generalize the essentials into rules, defi- 
nitions, principles, and laws. The power to . 
do this is the best evidence that the preced- is the Aim but 
ing formal steps have been effectively taken. o°Jnftrifctfon 
Failure to do so may mean that the essential 
features were not emphasized ; that the presentation was 
not skilful ; that the language was confusing ; that the 
plan was not logical ; that the process was not compre- 
hended ; or that comparison and association were not 
complete. But it always means that instruction was 
imperfect, that the presentation w^as only a clumsy imita- 
tion of the real thing, and that the work failed at its most 
important point. 

When the arrow goes wide of its mark it may be due 
to imperfect aim, an imperfect arrow, or an imperfect 
bow. The cause may find its source in any part of the 
machinery of the work, but the result is the same. But 
whatever the cause, the arrow missed the mark, the shot 
was lost, and the effort failed. And the instruction that 
does not lead the child to a comprehension of the terms, 
rules, laws, and principles of a subject does no better. 

2. Generalization conies after Presentation and 
Comparison. This is an important fact. It is the finger- 
board that points aright at many a doubtful place in the 
journey ; the light-house that guides the pedagogic mariner 
around many of the rocks and shoals of failure. Generali- 
zations must follow, and not precede, individual notions 
in the work of instruction. They naturally spring from 
and grow out of the examination of individual cases, and 
hence cannot naturally or logically precede them. The 
mind thinks its precepts into concepts. The former is 
the raw material out of which the latter are formed. 
And as the process of instruction is from raw material 



190 THE RECITATION 

to finished product, so the logical order in instruction is 

from individual notions to generalized state- 

and compari- meuts. Generalization is the fourth formal 

son precede g|-gp^ j|- naturallv comcs after presentation 

Generalization. 

and comparison, because their work is es- 
sential to its success. 

In practice two errors in this connection are frequently 
noticed. The first is^ in having the child begin the study of 
any subject or science with its generalizations — that is, with 
its rules, definitions, principles, and laws. 

The second is in confining the study of any subject or 
science to them. Both of these errors are sometimes seen 
in the same school. Children are often permitted to 
begin and end the study of grammar with definitions and 
rules. They study nothing else, and know nothing more 
of the subject. Their English is like the frame-work of a 
house. It is strong and substantial as far as it goes, but 
it is not smooth and connected. The frame- work of a 
house and the generalizations of a science are both nec- 
essary ; but the one does not make a house any more 
than the other makes a science. It is needless to say that 
when the study of this important subject begins and ends 
with rules and definitions, the children have little power 
to use the mother tongue. Even in this day of skilful 
teaching it is not difficult to find schools in which the 
work in geography, history, physiology, and arithmetic, 
as well as in grammar, begins, proceeds, and ends with 
the study of these abstract generalizations. 

In guarding against the first error three practical sug- 
gestions are helpful : 

1. Let ideas always precede words. To the little child 
ideas arise through sense-perception, and words are then 
needed to represent them. After the child thus knows 



i 



GENERALIZATION, THE FOURTH FORMAL STEP 191 

the color of an orange, he needs the word " yellow'' to 
designate his idea. With little children the natural order 
is from ideas, or through ideas, to words. With more 
advanced pupils, who can use a dictionary, the order is 
sometimes reversed, the idea being derived from the 
word. But in the schools where ideas precede words 
there is little danger of beginning the study of a science 
or a subject with rules and definitions. 

2. Let oral instruction precede text-book study. This is 
a practical application of the same law, — ideas before 
words. The child that has not seen a creek or stream 
can have little idea of a river ; while, on the other hand, a 
small hill visible from the school is sufficient material out 
of which the child may build his idea of a mountain. The 
visible is the eye-glass through which the invisible comes 
into imaginative view. The child must be trained to 
see the unseen through the seen, the past An Erroneous 
through the present, the remote through starting Point. 
that which is at hand. In text-book work, ideas often 
hide from the child behind words. The language of the 
text presents the unseen, the invisible, the remote. 
And Avithout the ideas that spring from his visible en- 
vu-onment (the very ideas which oral instruction is ex- 
pected to give), the child is unable to grapple with the 
generalizations of the text. 

3. Let percepts precede concepts. This is the psycho- 
logical statement of the same law. We have seen that 
the development of knowledge and the progress of in- 
struction is from the particular to the general, — that is, 
from percepts to concepts. The simplest form of the 
thinking process is conception. And the aim of concep- 
tion is to derive concepts from percepts. 

How irrational, then, it is to reverse the process and 



192 THE RECITATION 

ask the child to begin with general notions ! Advanced 
students may have the pov^er to begin with the products 
of thought, but in the elementary schools it is wise to 
follow the mind's natural order, — to go from ideas to 
words, from oral work to text-book study, from percepts 
to concepts, from particular notions to the higher forms 
of generalized truth. One of the ends of all instruction 
is to lead the child to comprehend the terms, rules, 
definitions, principles, and laws of a subject. And to 
begin the study of a science at the place where it should 
end is as unnatural, as unreasonable, and absurd as it 
is unfair to the child. 

The second error confines the study of a subject to its 
generalizations. This error is, perhaps, less frequent in 
occurrence than the first, but it is equally foolish in 
practice. And yet in some schools much of what is 
called instruction consists merely in asking the child to 
define terms, give rules, and state laws and principles. 
But the ability to repeat a law is not always evidence of 
a knowledge of it. " You do not know a thing until 
you have told it." This is an old maxim. 
But, paradoxical as it may seem, you can tell 
what you do not know. For the telling may spring 
from the memory and not from the understanding. The 
discussion, comprehension, and application of the prin- 
ciples are far more important than the ability to repeat 
them. Repetition hes on the surface of instruction, but 
comprehension and application sound its greatest depths. 

The child must know the generalizations of science. 
They are of paramount importance. We cannot do 
without them. And the instruction that falls short of 
this end is no better than the train that stops short of 
the traveller's destination. It is imperfect, unsatisfactory. 



GENERALIZATION, THE FOURTH FORMAL STEP 193 

and incomplete. But rules and definitions, important 
as they are, do not in themselves constitute a science 
any more than an outline forms a speech. A skeleton 
is not a man. It must be clothed with flesh and blood 
and throb with the subtle mysteries of life. You cannot 
make a great mind by feeding it on outlines, terms, 
definitions, laws, and principles any more than you can 
make a great soul by feeding it on moral maxims. To 
confine the study of a subject to its generalizations is to 
rob the child of the knowledge of the process that 
makes the generalization possible and of the application 
that makes it useful. The former prepares him to formu- 
late his own rules, principles, and laws ; the latter to 
apply them to advantage. 

The student who knows the rules of arithmetic may 
be defective in process and practice. And he who has 
studied only the generalizations of grammar has missed 
much of the clearness of thought and the force of ex- 
pression which the proper mastery of that using Generaii- 
subject should give. It is well to know the zationsas 

T.. n ' T I •! • • Important as 

generanzations of science, but it is unwise Knowing 
to confine its study entirely to them. For ^^^m. 
to be able to derive the rules and principles of any sub- 
ject, and to use them, is just as important as to know 
them. 

Good teaching, then, avoids both of these errors. It 
does not begin with rules and definitions, but rather 
develops them from individual processes. Nor does it 
confine its efforts exclusively to the study of the abstract 
generalizations ; for this is only part of the work, and 
the whole is the sum of all its parts, and greater than 
any of them. 

Generalization is the fourth formal step. As such it 



194 THE RECITATION 

is an important, perhaps the important, aim of all in- 
struction. It is the north pole of the teaching process. 
To it the pedagogic needle must ever turn, and by it 
the mariner on the sea of knowledge must be guided. 
The inductive process running through presentation and 
comparison is completed in generalization. In it the 
mind reaches its highest finished products and culture 
acquires its finest polish. Nothing remains but to apply 
these products and use this culture. The mind has now- 
condensed its know^ledge into definitions, laws, and 
principles. The larger the store of its classified gen- 
eralizations, the greater its culture and the better it is 
equipped for the acquisition, comprehension, and assimi- 
lation of new truth, and for the work of transforming 
the unknown into the known. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

GENERALIZATION 

1. Generalization gives rules, definitions, principles, and 

laws. 

2. Generalization comes after presentation and comparison. 

Errors. 
{a) To begin the study of a subject with generaliza- 
tions. 
To avoid this error 

1. Let ideas always precede words. 

2. Let oral instruction precede the book study. 

3. Let percepts precede concepts. 

(p) To confine the study of a subject to its generaliza- 
tions. 



PART II 

CHAPTER VI 

APPLICATION, THE FIFTH FORMAL 
STEP 



Successful application of newly gathered knowledge leads out 
into the clear sunlight of conscious power. 

McMuRRY 

Whosoever acquires knowledge, and does not practice it, re- 
sembles him who ploughs but does not sow. 

Saadi 

Knowledge is treasure, but practice is the key to it. 
It is for want of application rather than means that men fail 
of success. 

Rochefoucauld 

Application is the ally of genius. 

D. B. Tower 

It is not a question of how much a man knows, but what use 

he can make of what he knows. 

Holland 



CHAPTER VI 

APPLICATION, THE FIFTH FORMAL STEP 

The school is as much a place for applying as for accumulating 
knowledge. — McMurry. 

We have examined four of the formal steps, — prepara- 
tion, presentation, comparison, and generalization. We 
are now ready to consider the last, that of apphcation. 

The soul has three functions. It has capacity to know, 
to feel, and to will. Knowledge arouses feeling, feel- 
ing stimulates desire, and desire grows into purpose. 
The knowledge of the needs of the race arouses feelings 
of helpfulness. These stimulate a desire to render some 
aid, and the desire grows into a purpose and a plan by 
which the end is to be reached. Application is the effort 
of the soul to execute its purpose in making knowledge 
productive and useful. It is knowledge acting as a 
means to an end. Generalization gives the mind rules^ 
laws, and principles. Application is the effort to use 
them, to make them instruments for service. Generaliza- 
tion supplies the principles of science, but application 
strives to make them useful. As Laurie says, " Turn to 
use." 

Under this subject tw^o questions arise : 

1. Is knowledge a possession or an instrument? 

2. If an instrument, how may it be applied ? 

1. Every generalization has two values, the cultural 
and the practical. 

(a) Knowledge prized as a possession gives culture, 

197 



198 THE RECITATION 

but knowledge used as an instrument gives power. The 
one makes the scholar, the other the forceful executive ; 
the one the idealist, the other the realist ; the one pro- 
duces the man of theory, the other the man of practice ; 
the one suggests what may be done, the other executes 
what is possible. 

These two types of men appear in every age and in 
every field of human endeavor. The doctrinaire studies, 
knows, dreams, speculates, and theorizes. The man of 
affairs studies, knows, plans, and executes. The one is 
a master in generalizing, the other a master in applying ; 
the one dwells largely in the realm of abstract speculation, 
the other in the realm of utility. The world needs both 
of these types. Human progress is not the result of 
ignorance, nor of knowledge alone, but of knowledge 
applied, of thought in action, of intelligence executing its 
purposes. 

Much of the scholarship of the world is found in the 
school of the doctrinaire. Aristotle, Kant, Bacon, Dar- 
win, and Spencer are representatives. It includes many 
of the great scientists, the great philosophers, who think 
and dream and suggest, but seldom execute. In the 
other school is found some of the scholarship, much of 
the common sense and good judgment of the world, — 
nearly all of its executive force. They know, think, 
plan, and execute. Their aim is not only to know, but 
to make knowledge practical, productive, and useful. In 
this class are found many of our great inventors, great 
generals, great statesmen, the great organizers, the army 
of skilled workmen, and the men of practical affairs. 
They test the suggestions of the doctrinaire and divide 
his philosophy into the visionary and the practical. In 



APPLICATION, THE FIFTH FORMAL STEP 199 

their ranks are found the engmeers of the race and the 
wizards of human progress, — the practical men who 
tunnel the mountains, wire the ocean, bridge the streams, 
and harness for man's use the very giants that once 
opposed him. But useful and numerous as this class is, 
it does not render the other type unnecessary, for theory 
must precede practice and suggestion go in advance of 
action. 

(b) Apphed knowledge helps to build character. Its aim 
is to be helpful and useful. When knowledge manifests 
itself in action, when it works and executes, each effort 
leaves a tendency to repeat itself. Action thus forms the 
basis of habit and the raw materials of character. For 
w^hat the child does daily he will finally do as a matter 
of habit. And the daily acts and practices are the little 
rills of conduct that unite to form the great currents of 
character. Thus, the child that applies his knowledge 
becomes helpful and useful to society not only by what 
he does, but by what he is. 

The application of knowledge is one of the weakest 
phases of our school work. We teach laws, rules, and 
principles, but we do not always give the ability to apply 
them. Children know the rules of grammar, but have 
but little power to use the language. They can diagram 
and parse, but they cannot compose. They know the 
terms of botany but not the plants in their Application is 
own yard. They know the science of arith- phlslofschooi 
metic but have little power in it as an art. work. 
Geography is often a knowledge of text-book terms, but 
not of nature. The knowledge of physiology often has 
no effect upon habit. Thus, by divorcing knowledge and 
practice we make our school work weakest at its most 



200 THE RECITATION 

important point, for knowledge passive is not power. It 
becomes power only when it becomes active, when it 
strives to execute some purpose, when it is applied to 
some end, and when it is wedded to intelligent practice 
Education should result not only in scholarship and cul- 
ture, but also in utility and service. 

2. But what kind of instruction will make the child 
able to apply his knowledge and strengthen the school 
chain at its weakest link? We can ask the question, 
but we cannot positively answer it. One or two sugges- 
tions, however, may be made that will at least point the 
way. 

{a) Instruction that emphasizes doing as well as knowing 
will give the child the ability to apply knowledge. In such 
instruction, testing and drill in application of new prin- 
ciples to new examples go hand in hand. 

The tool chest of a carpenter has many tools. Each 
has its name and its use. It is not a knowledge of these 
tools, however, but the ability to use them that makes a 
man a carpenter. Knowledge is an instrument. It is a 
good thing to possess it, a better thing to understand it, but 
The Test of an it is stiU better to be able to use it. The test 
Education. ^f g^^ education is not what you know, but 
what you can do with what you know. We learn to do, 
not by doing alone, but by knowing and doing. And 
the instruction that requires the child to use what he 
knows, to practice what he has learned, will train him to 
apply knowledge with ease and force. 

The military schools and naval academies are organ- 
ized on this plan. They give the knowledge that will 
guide practice, but they give also the practice that will 
utilize knowledge. The same is true in the manual 



APPLICATION, THE FIFTH FORMAL STEP 201 

training school, the medical school, the trade schools, 
and the schools of applied science. These schools are 
organized to put the emphasis on application, to 
strengthen a defect in ordinary school work, and to 
supply a demand created by modern conditions. In 
them practice keeps pace with theory, and the ability to 
do is prized as highly as knowledge itself. 

(b) Experimental work and laboratory work aid the 
child in applying knowledge. They emphasize the im- 
portance of application, of skill acquired through practice. 
And the rapid extension of laboratory methods in 
elementary schools is a commendable step toward 
making the school a place for doing as well as a place for 
knowing. 

(c) Instruction that is concrete and illustrative helps to 
train the child to apply his knowledge. The child that has 
studied the classification of clauses should illustrate his 
knowledge with numerous examples. The idea of a 
complex sentence should be illustrated. A boy learns 
to apply his knowledge of linear measure by measuring, 
and of weights by weighing things. A knowledge of 
how to write a composition is of little value unless the 
child can illustrate that knowledge in actual practice. 
In fact, illustrative work is as valuable in training the 
child to apply his knowledge as in clarifying and fixing 
thought. 

(d) Instruction that is complete and practical aids the 
child in applying his knowledge. Instruction, however 
skilful, is incomplete in the stage of presentation. Com- 
parison gives more intimate and extended knowledge, 
but it is not the end. Percepts must be thought into 
concepts, and concepts into still higher forms, and thus 



202 THE RECITATION 

reach the stage of generalization. This is the end of the 
inductive part of the process commenced in presenta- 
tion but it is not the end of the process. Instruction is 
still incomplete until these general truths are applied. 
By complete instruction we mean that which ends not in 
comparison or generalization, but in application. It in- 
cludes not part of the five formal steps, but all of them. 
By practical instruction we mean that which requires 
the child to use and apply as far as possible what he 
Practical kuows, the instruction that touches the in- 

instruction terests of the community in which the pupil 

touches the *^ ^ ^ 

Interests of the rcsidcs. The cMld has a practical knowl- 
commumty. ^^^^ ^^ arithmetic when he can apply its 
principles to the solution of problems that spring from 
interests of the community outside the school. In a 
rural community his problems relate to farm business 
and farm products. Coal, iron, glass, steel, lumber, and 
general business outside the school must find a point of 
contact with the studies within it. His work in language, 
in arithmetic, in geography, in every branch, becomes 
not only real to him, and thus adds interest and mean- 
ing to school life, but it also makes instruction practical 
and useful, a thing to be used in the ordinary affairs 
of life. Everything without the school touches it and 
registers its influence upon the child, and the work with- 
in it should find a utilizing point of contact in the prac- 
tical application of the life outside The community and 
the school stand in reciprocal relations. Environment 
gives to the school its scope and its character, and school 
work gives its highest degree of practical completeness 
in its application to the problems of hfe around it. 
The ultimate goal of instruction, then, is not compari- 



APPLICATION, THE FIFTH FORMAL STEP 203 

son, not even generalization, important as it is, but 
application. The scholar, the recluse, the man of let- 
ters, who cares for nothing beyond culture, may be 
satisfied with generalizations. But not so with the prac- 
tical man, the utilitarian, the man of affairs who prizes 
knowledge not alone as a possession that ^ plication is 
gives culture, but also as an instrument that the Goal of 
may be used in the solutions of the great 
problems of the race ; nor with the great leaders in ac- 
tion who forge the shafts of human progress and build 
the highways of material advancement. To them educa- 
tion is a ladder up which humanity climbs from primitive 
things to highest civilization. To them the key to prog- 
ress is utility, not culture ; and utility is the goal of 
application. 

The vital element in education is spirit. Personality 
is more potent than presentation ; man is mightier than 
his method. The letter killeth, the spirit maketh alive. 
And no formal work should ever be permitted to sup- 
press the spirit and the personality of the teacher. And 
yet the spirit and the personality alone in the school-room 
are like faith without works. Spirit must give life and 
influence to effort, and effort must be guided by the best 
intelligence and follow the lines of least resistance in the 
accomplishment of its best results. Instruction, then, 
must call to its aid the best means and all the means at 
its command. 

These formal steps do not suppress the spirit. They 
add to its power. They cover the whole range of in- 
struction. They sweep its entire field. They give the 
work purpose and point, edge and scope. They desig- 
nate and direct its processes, measure and mark its prog- 



204 THE RECITATION 

ress, and generalize and apply its products. The 
function of each is important and fundamental. They 
are related and correlated, and yet scarcely co-ordinate 
elements in the process of teaching. Together they form 
a unity that is both pedagogical and psychological and in 
every way worthy of study. And the teacher who un- 
derstands this unity, who knows the process, the prog- 
ress, and the product of each step, and how to direct 
it aright and in harmony with the interests of the others, 
has control of the very throttle-valve of instruction and 
can direct and regulate its movements at will. Such a 
teacher is a master, looking down upon the work from 
vantage heights of superior power and not up to it from 
the levels of mediocrity. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 
Application. 

1. Values of knowledge. 

(a) Knowledge as an end — culture. 

(6) Knowledge as a means to an end — utility. 

2. Application of knowledge. 

(a) Knowing and doing in instruction aids the child in 

applying knowledge. 

(b) Experimental and laboratory work aids the child in 

applying knowledge. 

(c) Instruction that is concrete and illustrative aids the 

child in applying knowledge. 
(d) Instruction that is complete and practical aids the 
child in applying knowledge. 



I 



PART II 

CHAPTER VII 
THINKING IN THE RECITATION I 



Thought engenders thought. 

G. A. Sala 



Those that think most govern those that toil. 

Goldsmith 

Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the 
vessel. 

J. C. Hare 



Thinking leads man to knowledge. 

Pestalozzi 



Intuition is the clear conception of the whole at once. 

Lavater 



Right doing has its roots in right thinking. 

Selected 



Logic is the art of thinking well. 

Kames 



CHAPTER VII 
THINKING IN THE RECITATION 

Thinking, not growth, makes the man. — Isaac Taylor. 

L-PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 

1. Thinking" is the Great Problem of the School. 
Power to think is the highest function of the human 
mind. In the gift of that power man is certainly created 
in the image of his Maker. " The universe of matter 
and spirit," says Morgan, "is an exposition of God's 
thought. Chaos became cosmos when matter arranged 
itself in order according to the divine plan. Man's 
highest prerogative is to think over again God's thoughts 
as objectified in the universe, while science, philosophy, 
and theology are but man's attempts at the restatement 
of God's thoughts." It follows, then, that the great 
problem of the school and of the recitation as its chief 
exercise is to train the child to think ; to give him the 
ability to collate facts, to analyze, classify, and compare 
them ; to discover causes and foresee effects ; to infer, 
deduce, and judge ; and, in fact, to exercise successfully 
each and every power that enters into the complex pro- 
cess of independent thought. 

2. Thinking" is Possible even in the Elementary 
Schools. The great majority of children in the ele- 
mentary schools are very young. We have them during 
the perceptive rather than the reflective stage. But 
training to think does not belong entirely to this latter 
period. The elementary school has a part at least in 
the work. Reflection and the exercise of the higher 
faculties come after perception, because they spring from 
it; but they may be, and often are, closely related in 

207 



208 THE RECITATION 

time. The product of perception is not knowledge, but 
rather the material from which it is con- 
Treating^th'e structcd. This raw material may be hoarded 
Raw Materials away in the mind for future use, but it may 
also put the thinking processes into active 
and immediate operation. Even in the elementary 
school this raw material should be examined, analyzed, 
compared, associated, and assimilated with similar knowl- 
edge already in the possession of the child. And thus 
some training to think is possible even with small chil- 
dren, and especially with those in the grammar grades 
and in the high-school. 

n.— HOW WE MAY BETTER TRAIN THE CHILD TO 
THINK. 

1. By Demanding" his Best Efforts in Thought. There 
are two great extremes in the work of the recitation^ 
and both should be carefully avoided. One assigns the 
work to the child, — gives no help and no instruction. It 
says, in substance, to him, '' Work out your own educa- 
tional salvation with fear and trembling. Sink or swim, 
live or die, survive or perish by your own unaided self." 
And those who survive come forth sturdy, strong, self- 
reliant in thought and action. The pendulum swings to 
this extreme in the overcrowded schools, in schools 
where the teacher assigns lessons and hears the children 
say them, and where words conceal thought rather than 
reveal it. The objection to this is that the survivors, 
those who learn to think, sturdy and self-reliant as they 
are, are few. 

The pendulum of method touches the other extreme 
in the recitation that does too much for the child. It 
analyzes, classifies, and outlines everything for him. It 
removes all difficulties and almost carries him along the 



THINKING IN THE RECITATION 209 

pathway intended to stimulate mental feet. It feeds him 
on diluted mental food, nurses him in the groves of intel- 
lectual inactivity, instead of leading him out into the pure 
sunlight of independent thought and action. 

This is especially true in some primary schools, where 
the work belittles the child's mental powers, insults his 
intelligence, and leads him to say, in the language of 
Dodd Weaver, " I always knowed that ! " Number is 
often chopped up into such infinitesimal pieces, and 
administered to him in such harmless doses, that he sel- 
dom gets enough of it at any one application to start his 
intellectual machinery. In reading he is fed The Presump- 
upon literary gruel diluted to suit the child tion of Brains, 
mind. Much of it is so devoid of interest that a critic 
with a literary microscope would scarcely find enough of 
anything in it, save twaddle, to interest a man, much less 
a child. Much of the language work is based on the mis- 
application of the maxim, " Learn to do by doing." It 
requires him to do without knowing, to work or say some- 
thing without purpose or plan, aim or end. The result 
is a few crude, stale statements, devoid of thought, that 
tend to blunt the edge of the child's mental tools. In 
fact, there is floating around in the educational mist that 
befogs some class-rooms a dimly defined notion that the 
teacher's work consists largely in simplifying subjects, in 
removing difficulties, in teaching what the child already 
knows, and in trying to prove to him what is self-evident. 

Shun both of these extremes. The work that is too 
easy is of little value, and that which is too difficult is 
not much better. Since strength comes from struggling 
it may be of some value. But strife that ends in failure 
results in discouragement and disgust, while struggle that 
ends in victory gives strength, self-reliance, and disci- 



210 THE RECITATION 

pline, inspires the child with a desire for greater con- 
quests, and crowns effort with the satisfaction that springs 
from success. And the recitation that does most for the 
child pitches the work at the highest point at which the 
child's effort is rewarded by his success. 

If we would aid the child most in training him to 
think we must employ the most natural methods ; 
methods that give the child something to exercise his 
mind upon ; something to learn, remember, and apply in 
unlocking for himself the magic vaults of truth ; some- 
thing that will demand the vigorous exercise of his mind 
through the processes of analysis, comparison, associa- 
tion, and judgment, and on the very highest level of his 
best effort. 

2. By putting" more Emphasis on the Teaching" Part 
of the Recitation. In another chapter we have dis- 
cussed the parts of the recitation. 

(a) The first is the examination. In it the child tells 
what he has learned about the lesson. He may give it in 
response to questions that call for the contents rather than 
the exercise of his mind. Of course, this examination, 
guided by such questions, is of little value in training the 
child to think. It exercises the memory rather than the 
mind. 

(6) The second part of the recitation is the work of 
instruction. In it, under a skilful teacher, the mind ac- 
quires, comprehends, and expresses new truth. It exam- 
ines new facts, compares them with known truths, discov- 
ers new relations, associates them with others, draws from 
them individual opinions, and reaches certain conclusions. 
This is pre-eminently the thinking part of the recitation. 

(e) The third part of the recitation is the drill. It may 
or may not be made a medium throug-h which the child 



THINKING IN THE RECITATION 211 

is trained to think. When it degenerates into mere Up 
service or idle repetitions, or when the matter of the drill 
is not suited to the mental capacity of the class, it is of 
little value as an exercise of thought. But skill is a 
thing of the mind, not of the lips or the gkoiaThm 
hand. And the drill that gives skill demands of the Mmd, 

, I T, , ,. Ti J not of the Lips. 

mental as well as motor action. It grades 
the material to the mental grasp of the pupils and regu- 
lates the rate of motor action at the highest point con- 
sistent with clear thinking and right doing. Such drills 
are helpful in training the child to think. 

(d) The fourth part of the recitation is the assignment 
of lessons. This may or may not be made an aid in 
training the child to think. Merely designating so many 
pages or chapters is of little value. But in many cases 
hints may be given, such relations suggested, and such 
outlines and questions furnished as will lead the child to 
think rather than to memorize in the preparation of the 
lesson. 

The ordinary, easy-going, tell-and-say, random-shoot- 
ing, hap-hazard teacher, with incoherent plans and im- 
provised methods, too often avoids these parts of the 
recitation so valuable in training the child to think, and 
is content to browse around in the examination field, 
using the questions that search the memory but fail to 
stir the mind. He lets his pupils recite and ..guying.. 
hears them " say their lessons." their Lessons. 

In reading he permits the child to read aloud the para- 
graph without thought-provoking or thought-suggesting 
comment or question. If the child has mispronounced 
no words he simply says, " Next." The study and reci- 
tation of a lesson in history, geography, physiology, or 
grammar is a sort of gorge and disgorge process in which 



212 THE RECITATION 

the undigested trutli is drawn forth in the exact form in 
which it was gathered by the child from the printed 
page. 

In arithmetic the child is asked to solve the problems 
he has already solved at his seat, the problems he already 
understands, and perhaps the very problems he solved 
last year and the year before both at the seat and in the 
class. Such work is almost worthless even as a drill ; 
" for drill," says Putnam, " loses much of its value when 
it consists simply in working in class the examples in 
arithmetic previously wrought, or in the analysis of sen- 
tences previously analyzed, or in the mere repetition of 
any process previously performed." The drill finds its 
greatest value in the application of known principles to 
the solution of new problems and sentences. By such a 
teacher a garbled construction in Latin and a memorized 
demonstration in geometry are all that are required. In 
short, if the child can tell what he knows, he will not be 
asked to think about it. 

The drill may be made helpful in this work. But the 
teacher who w^ould do most for the child in training him 
to think must see clearly the difference between teaching 
him and hearing him recite. In the one the child learns, 
in the other he recalls. The processes are essentially 
distinct, and, although they may follow each other closely 
in time, must not be confounded. A child recites when he 
tells what he has learned ; he is taught when he acquires 
new truth, sees new relations, and arrives at new con- 
^ ' . elusions. In reciting, the keynote is recol- 

"Hearing the lectiou ; iu teaching, the keynote is thought. 
Teaching is simply causing the mind of the 
child to do, in the right way and at the right time, 
that which will enable it to see the new relation, grasp the 



THINKING IN THE RECITATION 213 

new truth, and reach the new conclusion. And it is only 
in the teaching part of the recitation that the teacher to 
any great extent really aids the child in forming habits of 
thought. 

3. By putting" more Emphasis on the Thinking Stage 
of the Learning Process. Aside from the work of appli- 
cation, there are two well-defined stages in the learning 
process : 

(a) The first is the stage of apprehension, in which 
the mind takes in as wholes the facts or units of truth. 
It acts in response to that phase of the teaching process 
that examines the lesson as a unit. In it the mind 
apprehends as wholes the facts that are presented 
to it. 

(6) The second stage of the learning process may be 
called the stage of comprehension. In it the mind takes 
these new units of truth which have just been appre- 
hended, examines them, separates them by analysis into 
parts, compares and classifies each with similar truth 
already in the mind, noting the similarities and differ- 
ences, and then works the new into the old, and all 
into one assimilated body of truth. This is pre-emi- 
nently the thinking stage in the learning process. And 
after each particular act of comprehension the mind 
has a larger, richer, and better organized body of truth, 
and is a stronger and better logical engine because of 
the new possession and the thinking which led to its 
comprehension and assimilation. In the stage of appre- 
hension the child uses only the most elementary forms 
of thought. In comprehension he uses the most vig- 
orous and systematic exercise of the thinking faculties. 
For to comprehend is to understand ; and to under- 
stand is to interpret the new by the old ; and this can be 



214 THE RECITATION 

done only by the powers of analysis, comparison, ab- 
^ . straction, association, and iud^^ment. From 

Comprehension ' 7 j o 

demands this it is readily seen that the teacher who 

Thought. leads the child no farther into the learn- 

ing process than the stage of apprehension has not done 
much for him in training him to think. 

4. By putting more Emphasis on the Questions 
of Assimilation as Instruments of Thoug-ht, The 
question is the great instrument of instruction. It is 
the right arm of the teacher's power and the key to his 
success. The art of questioning is, in a sense, the art 
of teaching ; and a good questioner is generally a good 
teacher. There are many kinds of questions, but, for 
our present purpose, two classes are sufficient. One 
class tests, the other trains ; one calls for the contents 
of the mind, the other starts its machinery ; the one re- 
sults in knowledge, the other in power. The first may 
be called the questions of acquisition, the second the 
questions of thought. 

(a) Now, the question is not only the instrument of 
instruction, it is the very throttle- valve that starts and 
controls the thinking process. And these two classes of 
questions correspond with, lead to, and bring about the 
two stages in the learning process. The questions of 
acquisition lead the. child to apprehend the facts of a 
lesson, while those of thought demand a comprehension 
of them. The questions what? which? when? and 
where ? are primarily questions of acquisition, as Roark 
suggests ; they seldom lead the child much beyond the 
stage of apprehension. 

(6) The questions wherefore? why? and how? and 
questions ttiat call for causes and results, are, as a rule, 
questions of thought. They help to carry the learner 



THINKING IN THE RECITATION 215 

from the stage of apprehension over the bridges into the 
realm of comprehension. They are philosophic ques- 
tions. They call for causes, they examine processes, 
they search for results. In answer to the questions 
of acquisition, the recollection of the child has only to 
dip into the memory and bring out an apprehended fact. 
But there is no ready-made, hand-me-down Questions of 
answer to the questions of assimilation and Assimilation 
thought. By them the mind receives an 
order for a special product ; and the thinking processes 
must manufacture that product before it can be de- 
livered. 

5. By putting" more Emphasis on Philosophic 
Teaching". In every system of schools you may find 
three kinds of teachers, — the mechanical, the experi- 
mental, and the philosophical. They work in the posi- 
tive, comparative, and the superlative degrees of the 
profession. Each, in his peculiar way, produces a prod- 
uct fashioned to some extent in the image of its maker. 
Cobblers can cobble, painters can daub, but only an 
artist can produce a work of art. 

(a) The mechanical teacher does the work blindly as 
he has seen it done under similar circumstances, with- 
out purpose or plan, why or wherefore. Such a teacher 
is only a cobbler at best ; but he works not with leather 
soles, but with human souls. His work is to be toler- 
ated, not commended ; and his product pitied, not con- 
demned. This is the class in which most young teachers 
begin. It is, therefore, no great disgrace for a teacher to 
start in that class, but it is not to his credit to remain 
in it long. The mechanical teacher uses largely the 
questions of acquisition, and consequently does very 
little in training his pupils to think, 
14 



216 THE RECITATION 

(6) The experimental teacher is the one who is dis- 
satisfied with the results of his work, but does not know 
just w^hat to do to make them better. He therefore 
experiments with every method, suggestion, or device 
that may chance his way. He is without definite aim 
or definite plan. He does not foresee the end, and 
therefore cannot organize the means. The character of 
his work is necessarily narrow and superficial ; and 
since the questions of acquisition lie largely on the sur- 
face of truth, they constitute almost exclusively his stock 
in trade. Like the mechanical teacher he may occa- 
sionally start the thinking faculties of the child's mind ; 
but if he does, it is by accident, and not through any 
Professional intelligent, fixed purpose. He is in a condi- 
unrest. ^iou of professional unrest. He is looking 

for light, and if he finds it his work may cease to be 
transitional and experimental and become philosophical. 
But as long as he is in this unsettled condition, this 
comparative degree of the profession, his work in train- 
ing the children to think will be very unsatisfactory. 

(c) As soon as the mechanical teacher is dissatisfied 
he tries everything he reads ; he studies and begins to 
think ; and when he has thought his way from dark- 
ness into light he takes the superlative degree and be- 
comes a philosophical teacher. This teacher looks down 
on his work from a lofty standpoint, — the point where 
history, psychology, pedagogy, and scholarship meet. 
He sees something of the child to be taught, his nature, 
his capacity, his character. He sees something of the 
subject which he is to master. He sees something of 
the manner in which that truth is to be brought into right 
relations with that mind, so that it will not only stimulate 
thought, but the thought that is desired. He sees the 



THINKING IN THE RECITATION 2l7 

end from the beginning; forms his plans and organizes 
his means by which that end is to be reached ; and 
thus, in a measure at least, is enabled to do the right 
thing in the right way and at the right time. He uses 
the questions of acquisition because his pupils must ap- 
prehend facts ; but the magic wand of his power is the 
question of thought. With it he intentionally starts the 
mental action that must result in mental power. Such a 
teacher always has a strong grip upon success, for " phil- 
osophy," says Devere, " makes the mind invincible." 

In the upper grammar grades and in the high school, 
much of the time of the recitation should be given to the 
discussion of the subject matter. This leads to the com- 
prehension and assimilation of what the child has appre- 
hended in the preparation of the lesson. The lack of 
work and study, so distressingly prominent in some 
schools, and the inability of the child to Discussion of 
make suitable preparation, make it neces- the subject 

^^tter as an 

sary for the teacher to spend much ot the Aid to its com- 
recitation period in trying to have the child P^^ehension. 
apprehend what he should have apprehended in the 
proper study of the lesson. Thus the recitation ends 
just where the important part of it should begin, and 
there is no time left for that discussion of the subject 
matter which will result in its comprehension and 
assimilation. 

In the primary grades much time must be devoted to 
the apprehension of the subject matter, because the child 
has little power to get it from the printed page. But 
in the higher grades, where he has to some extent 
acquired the art of study, the emphasis must be placed 
on the thorough comprehension of the facts. The philo- 
sophical teacher is the thinking teacher. He sees the 



218 THE RECITATION 

value of this part of the work, and, having been over the 
route himself, he knows how to stimulate others in their 
progress along it, and thus is the most helpful of all teach- 
ers in training the pupils to think. 

6. By putting" more Emphasis on Observation and 
E-eflection as Sources of Knowledge. Observation and 
reflection are of prime importance in the education of 
every child. The results that come from them are of 
the highest order. And the teacher who neglects either 
fails at a vital point. 

(a) Taking a practical view of the subject, it may be 
said that the child acquires truth by observation, intui- 
tion, reflection, and testimony. In the average school 
the emphasis is placed on testimony. Under the pres- 
sure of this emphasis nearly all that the child acquires 
comes to him second-hand, — from the testimony of the 
teacher and the testimony of the author. His beliefs 
and conclusions, if he has any, are founded on hearsay 
evidence. The faculties that should give him the most 
accurate and original knowledge are kept in the back- 
ground, while testimony reveals all. 

(6) In intuition the mind grasps certain truths and 
reaches certain conclusions immediately, and without the 
intervention of the thinking process as directed by a 
teacher. We can do little to aid the mind in thus 
acquiring truth, and may therefore dismiss it entirely 
from any discussion intended to throw light on the sub- 
ject from the teacher's standpoint. 

(c) But observation as a source of knowledge deserves 
^^ ^ ^, , some consideration. It has not received 

Nature Study 

demands the attention in many schools that its im- 

observation. portauce demands. Nature study as a 
means of discipline is an effort to restore observation 



A 



THINKING IN THE RECITATION 219 

to its rightful place. The child has the testimony of 
teachers and authors about nature, but nature study is 
an attempt to have nature speak directly to the child 
through his powers of observation. The mental product 
of observation is the percept, and percepts, whether 
gained directly by observation or grasped through intui- 
tion, are the elements of knowledge. 

This is nature's method of giving the child original 
knowledge, and we are not likely to improve upon it. It 
touches the mind on the emotional as well as on the 
intellectual side. This gives observation a great advan- 
tage over testimony. The child may know something 
of nature through the aid of books ; but if he gets his 
knowledge by observation, he is likely to get with it a 
love for it. Observation is one of nature's plans of stock- 
ing the mind with truth. It gives the elements of knowl- 
edge in the way in which they were intended to call the 
faculties into operation. And the wise teacher, in the 
difficult problem of training the child to think, will not 
ignore the service that observation can render. 

(d) Reflection as a source of truth is much neglected. 
We are so busy acquiring it by testimony that we seldom 
take time to reflect. And yet, as Burke says, " To read 
without reflecting is like eating without digesting." By 
reflection I mean that power by which we compare, dis- 
cover, and decide. In this process there are three 
stages. The first gives the child general notions. The 
result of the second is a conclusion technically called a 
judgment. To reach it the mind must examine, com- 
pare, discover, and conclude. It begins by examining 
ideas and objects, proceeds by discovering their relations, 
and concludes by affirming or denying something about 
them. In the third stage the mind begins with a com- 



220 THE RECITATION 

parison of two conclusions, proceeds by discovering a 
new conclusion based upon, deduced from, or growing 
out of their relation, and ends by stating it. 

Teachers may not clearly understand the thinking 
process when described in psychological terms, but they 
What Thinking do Understand what is meant by the simple 
Means, words examine^ compare^ discover, conclude. 

and sfate. And when the child does these things in the 
order named he is thinking ; for to reach a conclusion 
by this route and thus form an opinion is to complete an 
act of thought. 

If, then, we would train a child in the power of thought, 
great emphasis must be placed on reflection as a source 
of truth ; for this is the never-failing fountain whence 
come his decisions, conclusions, opinions, beliefs, and 
arguments. 

Composition springs from reflection, and, if rightly 
taught, is a great aid in training the child to think. It is 
originality of thought and expression that distinguishes 
a composition from a compilation. And this originality 
always finds its source in the reflection of the writer. If 
the composition is of the argumentative form, it is one of 
the greatest agencies in training the child to think, for 
then composition sets forth the writer's conclusions, 
opinions, and arguments ; and the power that reaches 
conclusions, furnishes opinions, and formulates argu- 
ments is the power of thought. The source from which 
this power must spring is the writer's own reflection. 

SUMMARY 

The recitation will become a better mstrument for 
stimulating thought : 

1. When we distinguish clearly between teaching and 
reciting. 



THINKING IN THE RECITATION 221 

2. When the emphasis in the recitation is placed upon 
instruction. 

3. When we make a better use of the questions of 
assimilation and thought. 

4. When we lead the child beyond the stages of appre- 
hension into the realm of comprehension. 

5. When a larger number of teachers climb the dimly- 
lighted stairway of mechanical and experimental work 
and reach the broad platform of philosophical in- 
struction. 

6. When observation as a source of knowledge is em- 
phasized, and the natural doorway to the child's mental 
machine shop is thus thrown wide open, that the fuel of 
truth may have free access to the engines of thought. 

7. And, finally, when reflection shall become a fountain 
of truth to the child, whence shall issue streams of 
decisions, opinions, and conclusions, nay, even arguments, 
not of the teacher and the text, but of the child, occa- 
sioned by the exercise of his own mind upon the subject 
matter. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

THINKING IN THE RECITATION 

I. — Preliminary Statement. 

1. Thinking is the great problem of the school. 

2. Thinking is possible in the elementary schools. 

II. — How we may Better Train the Child to Think. 

1. By demanding his best efforts in thought. 

2. By putting more emphasis on the teaching part of the 

recitation, 

{a) The examination. 
(6) The instruction, 
(c) The drill. 
{d) The assignment of lessons. 



222 THE RECITATION 

3. By putting more emphasis on the thinking stage of the 

learning process. 

(a) Stage of apprehension. 

(b) Stage of comprehension. 

4. By putting more emphasis on such questions as are in- 

struments of thought. 

(a) Questions of acquisition. 
(5) Questions of thought. 

5. By putting more emphasis on philosophic teaching. 

{a) Mechanical teaching. 

(b) Experimental teaching. 

(c) Philosophic teaching. 

6. By putting more emphasis on observation and reflection 

as sources of knowledge. 

(a) Testimony as a source of knowledge. 

(b) Intuition as a source of knowledge. 

(c) Observation as a source of knowledge. 

(d) Reflection as a source of knowledge. 



PART III 

THE RECITATION CONSIDERED IN 
ITS METHODS 



PART III 

CHAPTER I 

GENERAL METHOD IN THE 
RECITATION 



The study of methods of instruction constitutes one of the 
most important divisions of educational science. 

Gabriel Compayre 

Despatch is the soul of business ; and nothing contributes 
more to despatch than method. 

Chesterfield 

Induction is an inference drawn from all the particulars. 

Sir William Hamilton 

Make the most of time, it flies away ; yet methods will teach 
you to win time, 

Goethe 

Method is like packing things in a box ; a good packer will 
get in half as much again as a bad one. 

Lord Burleigh 



CHAPTER I 

GENERAL METHOD IN THE RECITATION 

No undertaking can be carried on successfully without method. — 
Franklin. 

In a former chapter we studied the subject of presen- 
tation as the second formal step in the recitation. We 
examined its external characteristics and the inner activi- 
ties that ordinarily respond to and result from them. In 
this chapter we are to study the methods of presenta- 
tion ; to note their fundamental characteristics ; to dis- 
cover, if possible, their philosophy, and to see how they 
dominate the individual methods of the recitation. 

I.— METHOD DEFINED. 

The word " method " means manner. The purpose of 
presentation is to bring truth to the mind in such a way 
as to arouse and sustain its activities and to direct them 
to a specific end. And the method is simply the manner 
in which this is done. It is a way of reaching a desired 
end by a series of intermediate steps that lead to it, or 
by a series of acts that tend to produce it. 

But method also means order. A method of teach- 
ing, then, is an orderly way of presenting truth to the 
mind and of directing its activities. And order primarily 
susfgests system and plan. Hence a method 

System and ®^ . "^ . ^ 

Plan in of teaching is a systematic plan, involving a 

series of intermediate and orderly acts which 
point toward a desired end and tend to produce it. This 
X5 227 



228 THE RECITATION 

systematic plan implies an aim or end, a knowledge of 
the means that will produce it, and a specific and pro- 
gressive order in which each shall be considered, and 
how each shall be applied to the work at hand. Method 
sees the end from the beginning, it knows the inter- 
mediate steps that lead to it, it determines the order and 
the manner in which each shall be taken, and thus re- 
bukes all blind, hap-hazard, experimental effort, and re- 
moves as far as possible all guesswork from the class- 
room. 

The goal of all instruction is knowledge, power, or 
The Goal of ^^^^^' "^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ acquired, the second is the 
Instruction. strength resulting from mental action, and the 
third is the facility that comes from practice. Knowledge 
is the fuel that feeds the engines of mental action, and 
power and skill are the results of this action. A method, 
then, is a way of presenting facts to the mind in order 
that it may acquire knowledge and arouse the activities 
that will result in the desired power or skill. 

A material illustration may help to throw some light 
on the subject. A water-mill stands beside a stream ; 
its machinery is in perfect order; the wheat is in the 
hopper ; but the mill will not accomplish its purpose until 
a sufficient quantity of water is applied to the wheel in 
the right way and at the right point. There is an abun- 
dance of water in the stream and the box above the 
wheel is filled, but, regardless of this, the machinery re- 
mains inactive until the miller lifts the flood- 
gates of the gate and allows a quantity of water to pour 
Senses. dowu upou the whecl and start it. And that 

supply of water must be continuous and regular until 
the work is done. So method lifts the flood-gates of the 
senses, and so presents the subject matter of a lesson to 



GENERAL METHOD IN THE RECITATION 229 

the mind that the latter is aroused and directed by it, 
and has, as the immediate result of its effort, increased 
knowledge, power, or skill. 

Skilful teaching is right methods in actual operation. 
The skilful teacher is the one who does the right thing, 
in the right way, at the right time ; and doing this is the 
very essence of method. 

n.— THE FUNDAMENTAL OHARAOTERISTIOS OF 
METHOD. 

The human mind has many powers, and a discussion 
of them would carry us beyond the limits of this lecture. 
Two of these powers, however, are fundamental. First, 
it can acquire knowledge ; and second, it can reflect 
upon or think about its acquisitions. Its acquisitions 
come to it either through observation or through the 
medium of language, and reflection works them up into 
the higher forms of thought. Acquisition and thought 
are the bagic powers of mind. All the knowledge the 
child can ever possess must come to him through the 
acquisition of truth or through its elaboration by the 
processes of thought, and the stock of his mental power 
and the extent of his skill are the results of them. 

Around these two fundamental powers of the mind 
cluster all the knowledge and principles that tend to 
make teaching a fine art. These principles are the 
switch-boards of method by which the teacher through 
presentation arouses, controls, and directs the currents 
of mental action. Perhaps it would be more appro- 
priate to call them the key-boards of pedagogy on which 
the teacher must play in the presentation of the subject 
matter of a lesson, and through which he must operate 
in arousing to harmonious vibrations the strings that are 



230 THE RECITATION 

within. And as familiarity with the key-board and skill 
in its use as well as a knowledge of the laws of harmony 
are essential qualifications of the expert musician, so 
TheKey-boards familiarity with the key-boards of pedagogy, 
of Pedagogy, together with a knowledge of the laws of 
acquisition and thought, are the essential qualifications 
of the skilful teacher. And as certain combinations of 
tones, movements, and parts determine the character of 
the tune, so certain processes, operating through the laws 
of acquisition and thought, determine the work of the 
teacher and the character of the method. 

The subject of method has two phases, the theoret- 
ical and the practical. The one is a question of philoso- 
phy, the other a question of practice. All practice 
ought to be sound theory applied. That is the shortest 
and surest way to success, for the art of teaching is 
simply the art of putting theory into effectual practice. 
The philosophy of method comes first, its application 
follows. The philosophy is difficult, but the ability to 

Theory as the ^PP^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^' '^^^ former Is a 
Basis of thing of the mind ; it may be studied, ex- 

plained, and understood. But the mastery of 
method is a thing of practice, and can be acquired only 
through the conscious or the unconscious application of 
this philosophy to actual class-room work. 

Our study, then, of the fundamental characteristics of 
method must be largely theoretical. We can only survey 
the field of theory, examine its philosophy, and point out 
its principles, leaving the comprehension and the applica- 
tion of them to the teacher. 

In the literature bearing on this subject all methods are 
classified either as analytic or synthetic, inductive or 
deductive, objective or subjective, or empirical or rational 



GENERAL METHOD IN THE RECITATION 231 

Each of these four classifications is complete in itself 
including the theoretical aspect of all methods. The 
different classifications arising simply because of the 
different view-points from which the subject is exam- 
ined and considered practically, some of them will be 
found to be scarcely more than a different name for the 
same thing. 

1. Analytic and Synthetic Methods. The terms 
analysis and synthesis are not very clear when applied 
to methods of instruction. In the literature of peda- 
gogy they seem to have no definite or precise meaning. 
The clearest and most accurate thinkers fail to agree in 
their use of them, and Compayre suggests that since 
they bring nothing but confusion and obscurity, he 
Vagueness of would be glad to See them disappear from 
Terms. the vocabulary of pedagogy. But since they 

are used to designate certain methods, it will be neces- 
sary for us to examine them. 

The mind learns by distinguishing one idea from 
another or by uniting one with another. Separation and 
combination are fundamental powers. The one is 
termed analysis, the other synthesis. And any method 
dominated by the former process is called analytic, while 
one based upon the latter is synthetic. 

No method, perhaps, is purely analytic or synthetic, 
but is rather a combination of both processes, the one 
complementing the work of the other. And yet one 
process may so dominate a method as to name it. 

(a) Analysis. Analysis is one of the first efforts of 
the mind. As a rule, we first examine a thing as a 
whole and note its general characteristics. The thing 
examined may not be a unit in itself, — it may only be a 



232 THE RECITATION 

very small part of it, — yet tlie mind examines it first as 
one complete whole. 

But to gain a more intimate and exact knowledge it 
separates it into parts and makes each part a unit for 
Narrowing the examination and separation. And thus the 
Field of mind proceeds to narrow the field for inves- 

Investigation. i.i. ••! -n i r •< 

tigation m its endless quest lor more minute 
and accurate knowledge, each part becoming in turn a 
unit for examination and study. 

The first view of a house, for instance, reveals to the 
mind only its general form and appearance as an object. 
This first view is too vague to be of much service, and 
upon a more careful examination it discovers parts, 
doors, porches, and windows. These are in turn exam- 
ined and their parts are noticed. Narrowing the field of 
investigation everything else is dismissed for the time, as 
the mind discovers the design, for instance, of an art 
window ; and on and on the investigation may continue, 
narrowing the field of observation in an effort to gain 
more minute knowledge. 

Analysis is thus a process of separation and of narrow- 
ing the field of investigation. It looks at a whole and 
recognizes that it is different from other things ; it sepa- 
rates it into parts and distinguishes one from the other 
by recognizing that one is what the other is not. 

(6) Synthesis. Synthesis is the process by which the 
mind unifies parts into wholes. It is a process of com- 
bination, not separation. It'is, therefore, the very oppo- 
site of analysis. The one looks for differences by which 
parts are separated. The other looks for similarities by 
which facts are related, grouped, classified, and united. 
It puts facts with similar fact, element with element, and 
thus unitizes the mind's possessions. "We analyze," 



GENERAL METHOD IN THE RECITATION 233 

says Sir William Hamilton, '^ only that we may compre- 
hend ; and we comprehend only inasmuch as we are 
able to reconstruct in thought the complex effects which 
we have analyzed into their elements." And Baldwin 
suggests that the mind gains the mastery in two ways : 
" We divide to conquer, and unite to understand." 

Analysis and synthesis, then, are complementary 
processes ; either alone is incomplete, but together they 
form the whole circle of psychic action. " Each," as Sir 
William Hamilton remarks, " is the relative and correla- 
tive of the other." And instead of being two separate 
processes they are rather the necessary parts of one. 

(c) The order in which the paiis of a subject are studied. 
But while the terms analytic and synthetic are vague 
when applied to methods, they are more definite when 
we use them to designate the processes of separating or 
uniting the elements of which anything is composed. 
And they are equally definite when used to name the 
order in which the parts of a thing may be examined. 
This order may be from the whole to its parts by analy- 
sis, or from the parts to the whole by synthesis. 

When the study of a subject begins with a considera- 
tion of its unity and proceeds to a consideration of its 
parts the order is analytic. This is the logical order in 
which the matter in many of the sciences is arranged in 
the ordinary texts. It is to be distinguished from the 
chronological order in which the facts of history are 
generally studied. 

For example, when the study of geography begins with 
the earth as a unit, separates it into land and water, 
divides the land into continents, the conti- Analytic order 
nents into countries, and the countries into °^ ^^^^'^^'• 
states, the order is analytic. In like manner the analytic 



234 THE RECITATION 

order of examining the facts of grammar begins with a 
consideration of the subject as the science of language 
divides it into its principal subdivisions, and then takes 
up the study of each in turn. 

The knowledge of a subject thus studied is of the 
highest value. No student is master of a science until 
he knows it in its unity, its analytic parts and their rela- 
tions. But while this is true, the analytic order of study 
is not always the best to be followed in the elementary 
school. 

When you start with the consideration of a science in 
its unity, it will be necessary for the child to identify 
that unity ; this is to know j ust what it is and how it is 
distinguished from other unities. That brings him face to 
face with the definition of the subject to be studied. 
Now a definition is an exact statement of what are re- 
garded as the constituent parts of the thing to be defined. 
And in the elementary grades where the child has no 
knowledge of the subject it is impossible for him to com- 
prehend this definition of the thing or of its constituent 
parts. 

Take, for example, the study of grammar from this 
analytic standpoint. In its unity it is the science of 
language and the art of using it. Usually it is divided 
into four parts, — orthography, etymology, syntax, and 
prosody. It must be evident that the child who is begin- 
ning the study of language is not prepared to understand| 
these terms and definitions. Indeed, three or four years 
of the study of the subject will scarcely make them clear; 
to him. The same is true with reference to the study of | 
geography, physiology, and arithmetic, — in fact to an^ 
study. 

It is obvious, then, that while this analytic order of] 



GENERAL METHOD IN THE RECITATION 235 

study has an important place in the advanced grades of 
the elementary school, it is not the order 
by which a child should begin the study of cannot begin 
a subject. To attempt to teach an abstract ^^iti^ 
definition of the unity of a science to a 
child who knows nothing about it, is asking him to in- 
terpret the unknown with an empty mind. Such a 
process is absurd. You might just as well expect a man 
to go into business without capital. An empty mind 
cannot acquire knowledge, it cannot even attend to its 
presentation. And it is impossible for a mind empty 
along a given line to grapple with and understand a defi- 
nition setting forth the essence of the thing it would know. 
The child must always start with something that is 
known. He must measure, weigh, and know the unknown 
by and through it. He must learn with what he has. 
There is no other way. Good teaching^, 

•^ °' The Child 

as we have suggested, always trains the child leams with 
to use what he has in acquiring what he what he has. 
wants. It proceeds from the "known to the unknown." 
And it is folly to start with the unknown and strive to 
know the new thing by or through it. 

The synthetic order of examining the parts of a science 
is generally preferable in the lower grade of the ele- 
mentary school. It avoids asking the little child to begin 
the study of a science with its terms, definitions, and 
generalizations. It starts with some individual fact which 
the child knows, and which in some way relates to the 
thing to be known, and proceeds to enlarge his circle of 
knowledge on the subject and thus leads him up to the 
point where his expanding intellect can comprehend the 
subject in its unity, its analytic parts, and their relations, 
as embodied in its terms and definitions. 



236 THE RECITATION 

2. Induction and Deduction. Analysis and synthesis 
seem to be the fundamental characteristics by which the 
mind in the process of acquisition examines objective 
knowledge, while induction and deduction seem to 
belong more particularly to the methods by which the 
mind deals with subjective material in the processes of 
thought. They seem to be modes of thought by which 
the mind, through judgment and reasoning, elaborates 
its objective knowledge into higher finished forms. 

(a) Induction as a mode of thought. Induction is the 
method of thought by which the mind reasons from the 
particular to the general. It examines individual cases, 
and through analogy affirms that what is true of them is 
true of all in the same class, and thus proceeds from part 
to whole, from particular to the general, and from the 
individual to the universal. 

The reliability of inductive conclusions depends upon 
, the number of individual cases examined 

Reliability of 

Inductive and the analogy existing between them and 
Conclusions. ^^le class of wMch the conclusion is affirmed. 
For example, a man who knows nothing whatever about 
corn, after husking a hundred ears and finding each yel- 
low, may through induction reach the general conclusion, 
" All corn is yellow." A more extended investigation of 
individual cases and of kinds would revise this conclu- 
sion by showing that some kinds are white, and that 
occasionally red specimens are found in each kind. 

As a rule, hasty inductions are not very reliable. 
Caution and wisdom make haste slowly, but rash judg- 
ment jumps to conclusions. In order to give the induc- 
tive conclusion value, then, two things are necessary : 

1. A large number of individual cases should be care- 
fully and critically examined. 



GENERAL METHOD IN THE RECITATION 237 

2. The individual cases examined must be similar and 
analogous, and each must belong to the general class of 
which the conclusion is to be affirmed. 

Conclusions must rest upon facts, and general con- 
clusions that are to be trustworthy must be based, not 
upon a few individual cases, but upon many. 

(6) Deduction as a mode of thought. Deduct means to 
lead forth or to draw from. As a mode of thought it is 
the manner in which a general truth, already known or 
assumed, is led out to a particular case by means of 
an intermediate term equally connected with both. Thus 
the general is brought down into the particular, affirm- 
ing of the latter the quahties true of the former. 

The syllogism is often employed in both these modes 

of thought. This consists of three propositions. The first 

and second are called premises, the third a 

The Syllogism. ^ ' 

conclusion. The following syllogism will 
serve as an illustration. 

1. All virtues are commendable. 

2. Charity is a virtue ; therefore, 

3. Charity is commendable. 

In this case the general truth already accepted or 
established is that " all virtues are commendable," and by 
deduction this general truth is brought down and affirmed 
of charity because it is a virtue. This conclusion is based 
upon the fact that whatever is true of a class as a whole 
is true also of every individual in the class. 

In the syllogism given above the first proposition is the 
major, the second the minor premise, and the third the 
conclusion. The major premise affirms that virtues are 
included among the many things that men are willing to 
commend, either because they are accepted or have been 
proven worthy of commendation. The minor premise 



238 THE RECITATION 

affirms that charity is included in the class of things 
termed virtues and is regarded as one of them. These 
being true, the conclusion naturally and logically follows. 
The value of a deductive conclusion depends upon two 
conditions : 

1. The major premise must be true. 

2. The minor premise must be related to or included 
in the term or class designated by the major. 

In ordinary reasoning, part of the syllogism is often 
suppressed and is only understood. For instance, you 
may say, " John cannot lift a man's load ; he is only a 
child." 

In this the conclusion is given first, the minor premise 
second, while the major is entirely omitted. If ex- 
pressed in full the syllogism would be as follows : 

1. A child cannot lift a man's load. 

2. John is a child ; therefore, 

3. John cannot hft a man's load. 

Another form is to say, " John cannot lift a man's load, 
because he is a child." This states the conclusion, and, 
with the first premise understood, assigns the second as 
the cause of the conclusion. This form is very important 
in teaching children. It couples the cause so directly 
with the conclusions that even the dullest mind is likely 
to see. The teacher should not weaken the foundations 
of faith that looks beyond the horizon of sight, but he 
should reinforce the foundations of fact with the strongest 
logic at his command. 

(c) Inductive and deductive methods. The process of 
thought that dominates a method names it. 

The inductive method leads the child to apprehend the 
idea before it is given the word that stands for it; to 
understand the process by examining individual cases 



GENERAL METHOD IN THE RECITATION 239 

before the general rule is stated ; to know the thing 
before it is defined ; and to comprehend un- inductive 
derlying principles before they are formally Methods give 
stated. It begins with individual cases and before the 
advances toward general rules and principles, ^ord. 
It aims to have the child so understand individual cases 
and processes that he may derive the general rules and 
principles from them. 

In arithmetic it begins with a concrete example, and 
by studying it leads the child to a discovery of its under- 
lying principles and to a knowledge of the rule for the 
solution of all similar problems. It approaches the sub- 
ject of elementary geography through the facts and the 
phenomena in the child's environment, advances by care- 
fully investigating the processes of nature, and finally 
grasps the laws and generalizations to be used in the com- 
plete mastery of the subject. It makes the particular 
things that speak directly to the child the spectacles 
through which he is to see the general features of the 
subject. 

In grammar the inductive method gives the learner the 
idea of the phrase, the clause, the sentence, the part of 
speech, in fact of any term or thing, before it asks him to 
define them. In short, this method attacks all subjects 
in the primary grades through oral investigation of con- 
crete cases, and in every grade through the 
examination of individual examples, pro- General 
cesses, and illustrations, and through them ^partoiar ^ 
rises to the comprehension of rules and 
generalizations. 

Deductive methods are those that start with a study 
of general principles and lead down and out to the con- 
sideration of these principles in their application to par- 



240 THE RECITATION 

ticular cases. They would derive ideas from words, 
solutions from rules, and a knowledge of the things 
defined through the definitions. 

Deductive methods reverse the processes of induction. 
Generalization, including the rules, terms, laws, and prin- 
ciples, is the goal of inductive instruction. In deductive 
instruction these are the beginnings, not the ends. To 
derive general truths is the dominating aim of inductive 
work. But deduction strives to verify and apply them. 
In short, inductive methods examine individual cases and 
discover and state general laws and principles. While 
deductive methods examine general principles and strive 
to lead the child to understand, to verify, and to apply 
them. 

From this discussion it is obvious that inductive and 
deductive methods are both to be employed. The for- 
mer may predominate in one grade, the latter in another ; 
but each must supplement and reinforce the work of the 
other, and frequently both are employed in the mastery 
of a single fact. Both are needed, and the mind trained 
by the use of both is superior to the mind trained by the 
exclusive use of either. 

Inductive methods should predominate in the elemen- 
tary school, for ideas should precede words, facts should 
Induction go ^^ advaucc of principles, and processes 
derives Prin- should always lead the way to rules in the 
Deduction training of little children. But while this is 
applies them. ^J,^g^ dcductive mcthods hold an important 
place in training pupils to apply the general rules and 
principles acquired through inductive processes. 

Some parts of a subject are more easily presented by 
inductive methods than others. Much of the work in 
elementary geography, language, physiology, and arith- 



GENERAL METHOD IN THE RECITATION 241 

metic is very readily approached by them. But when 
the stage of generalization has been reached in the study 
of any fact or lesson induction has largely accomplished 
its purpose, and should give place to deduction in the 
application of general principles to individual cases. 
Induction may carry the work of instruction up to the 
fourth formal step in the recitation, but the fifth step 
must be taken by deduction. In a word, inductive meth- 
ods should give to the child a comprehension of the gen- 
eral principles which deduction applies. 

3. Objective and Subjective Methods. In the study 
of methods the student frequently meets these terms, and 
while they do not take rank with induction or deduction, 
yet they hold an important place in the discussion of the 
subject. 

Knowledge is of two kinds. The source of one is 
external, that of the other internal. One kind reaches 
the mind from the external world through the senses, 
the other arises in the mind as the result of thought. 
The first may be termed objective, the second subjective 
knowledge. 

(a) Objective methods. The methods by which the 
mind examines things are objective. The child may 
study things or he may study about them. His knowl- 
edge of botany may be derived from the plants he has 
examined or from the books he has studied. The farm 
and the field, the stream and the slope, are sources of 
geographical knowledge just as truly as the book that 
tells of things beyond the pupiPs environment. Hamilton 
says, " Objective means that which belongs to or pro- 
ceeds from the object known, and not from the subject 
knowing, and thus denotes what is real in opposition to 
what is ideal, what exists in nature in contrast to what 



242 THE RECITATION 

exists merely in the thought of the individual." Objec- 
^^. ,. tive methods, then, are those that deal with 

Objective ' 

Methods deal things. They are the methods of observa- 
with Things. |.j^^^ ^^ sense-perception, that give us the raw 
materials of knowledge. 

It is evident that objective methods occupy a most im- 
portant place in the kindergarten and the elementary 
school. The numerous devices in which objects are em- 
ployed to teach form, shape, number, and color all fall 
under this head. The sand-box, the school- 
Melhtdrin yard, and the neighborhood are employed 
Modern to give the child the fundamental facts of 

Pedagogy. r, ±1, • • it- 

geography ; the scissors m cuttmg paper 
into various shapes ; the yard-stick in measuring length, 
and the scales in giving accurate notions of weight, all 
work more or less through objective methods. The fun- 
damental idea in nature study is that nature shall testify 
directly to the child, and that his knowledge of the sub- 
ject shall be acquired through objective methods. In- 
deed, the school that does not employ this method in 
giving to little children their elementary notions of things 
is out of harmony with the spirit of modern pedagogy. 
The methods of instruction employed before the age of 
books were largely objective. They were primitive, but 
they were natural, and since they are natural they are 
likely to remain. They are the basis of every form and 
phase of the modern object lesson. 

It is to be noted that objective methods are employed 
mainly in presenting objective knowledge. Their work 
is generally accomplished in presentation, the second 
formal step in the recitation. Comparison, generalization, 
and application, as formal steps, deal with knowledge! 
after it has ceased to be objective. 



I 



GENERAL METHOD IN THE RECITATION 243 

Objective methods lend themselves with great facility 
in particular fields. In geography, physiology, and arith- 
metic they may be used to great advantage, and in the 
domains of chemistry, botany, physics, zoology, and 
geology they are especially helpful. 

(b) Subjective methods. Subjective methods are those 
by v^hich the mind elaborates the raw materials of 
knowledge, the products of sense-perception into 
higher finished forms by the processes of thought. 
Objective methods are primarily methods of acquisition, 
while subjective methods are methods of thought. The 
product of the former are primary ideas and percepts ; 
the products of the latter are concepts, conclusions, and 
generalizations. The processes of the one are observa- 
tion and physical investigation ; those of the other are 
conception, judgment, and reason. Subjec- 
tive methods deal with the things of thought Methods deal 
in distinction from the things of sense. They Th£*g ^j 
relate to and sweep the realm of mind in Thought, not 
contrast to the realm of things. They are ^^^^^' 
the methods that accept and elaborate objective knowl- 
edge, after it has crossed the threshold of the mind and 
has thus become subjective. 

These two methods, like those of induction and deduc- 
tion, must supplement and reinforce each other. Objec- 
tive methods give primary ideas of things. But the mind 
cannot keep its possessions in the form of elementary 
notions. They must be worked up and generalized into 
terms, principles, and laws. These, rather than the 
crude, unrelated material, are the tools with which it 
works. Subjective methods, then, are necessary to com- 
plete the work which the mind undertakes in dealing 
with material things. 



244 THE RECITATION 

4. Empirical or Rational Methods. Empirical and 
rational are practically other terms by which subjective 
and objective methods are designated. And yet it may 
be in place to speak of them separately. 

{a) Empirical methods. Empirical methods are those 
through v^hich we gain knowledge by observation and 
experience. They are the methods of the laboratory, 
the shop, the factory, and the field. Chemists, physi- 
cians, draughtsmen, mechanics, and artisans get much of 
their training through these methods. These are the 
methods of experiment, of observation, and of actual 
practice in contrast with those of inference and thought. 

All such methods, however, must be guided by estab- 
lished principles and laws, or little progress will be made. 
Practice must ^ laboratory is of little value unless it is 
be guided by uscd aright. Without access to the garnered 
Rufes and truth of the race in the field of dentistry, it 
Principles. would take a young man a long time to ac- 
quire skill and efficiency by empirical methods. The 
attorney who practices law without a knowledge of its 
principles will not win many cases. The methods of the 
physician must necessarily be somewhat empirical, but 
if his practice is not guided by scientific knowledge it 
will take him a long time to rise above the level of quack- 
ery. So empirical methods to accomplish their purpose 
must not be idle and aimless, but founded upon and 
guided by well-established principles and laws. 

(6) Rational methods. These methods relate to mind 
in opposition to those that relate to matter. They be- 
long to the realm of thought, not things, and are the 
methods by which the mind reasons in distinction to 
those by which it observes and examines material things. 

The similarity in certain features of these fundamental 



I 



GENERAL METHOD IN THE RECITATION 245 

characteristics of method is very marked. Empirical 
methods are those that depend upon obser- ^^^^ similarity 
vation and experiment. And objective of certain 
methods deal with objects or things. But 
we know things by experience and observation. Hence 
empirical methods are practically objective. In like 
manner rational methods are practically subjective. 
These terms may not be identical throughout the realm 
of metaphysical thought, but within the scope of ordinary 
class-room work their differentiation is unnecessary. 

In the same way empirical methods are generally 
inductive, and the fields of truth to which these methods 
apply with greatest facility are almost identical. 

This similarity may be seen also between analysis and 
deduction and between synthesis and induction. Analysis 
passes from a consideration of the whole to a considera- 
tion of its parts. In deduction the mind passes in 
thought from the general to the particular. But the 
general often springs from the whole and the particular 
from its parts. And so this similarity may be traced 
between analysis and deduction and between synthesis 
and induction. 

But analysis and synthesis seem to apply more 
particularly to methods of examination, of physical 
separation and combination, while deduction and in- 
duction are modes of thought. The former are the 
methods by which the mind examines the facts, investi- 
gates the conditions, and acquires the raw materials that 
are to be the basis of thought ; the latter are the modes 
by which the mind moves forward by logical inference 
to the direct conclusions arising out of them. 

All methods, then, are analytic or synthetic, inductive 
or deductive according to the character of the process 



246 THE RECITATION 

that dominates them. And those that deal with things 
and acquire knowledge or power through observation 
and experience are objective or empirical, while those 
that elaborate the crude material that comes from the 
objective world through the higher processes of thought 
are subjective or rational. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

GENERAL METHOD 

I. — Method Defined. 
11. — Fundamental Characteristics of Method. 

1. Analytic or synthetic. 

(a) Analysis. 

(b) Synthesis. 

(c) Order in which the parts of subject are studied. 

2. Inductive or deductive. 

(a) Induction as a mode of thought. 

1. Number of inductions. 

2. Character of inductions. 

(b) Deduction as a mode of thought. 

1. The major premise must be true. 

2. The minor premise must be related to the 

major. 

(c) Inductive and deductive methods. 

3. Objective or subjective. 

(a) Objective methods. 

(b) Subjective methods. 

4. Empirical or rational. 

(a) Empirical methods. 

(b) Rational methods. 



PART III 

CHAPTER II 

INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE 
RECITATION 



Marshal thy notions into a handsome method. 

Fuller 

It is only dislocated minds whose methods are spasmodic. 

WlLMOT 

To know how to put a good question is to have gone a long 
way toward becoming a skilful and efficient instructor. 

Selected 



The method of teaching which approaches most nearly the 
method of investigation is incomparably the best. 

Burke 



Methods should vary according to the subjects taught. 

Bacon 



CHAPTER II 
INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 

A good method favors self- teaching. — Marcel. 

Having studied the general characteristics of method 
it is our purpose now to examine the individual methods 
used in ordinary class-room work. We desire to see if 
possible what each particular method is, its contents and 
its limitations, and to inquire what are its peculiar 
advantages or disadvantages both to teacher and pupil. 

I.— THE LECTURE METHOD. 

This is a simple, direct, clear, strong, logical presenta- 
tion of the subject matter of a lesson to a class in the 
form of a lecture. The aim is to do this in such a way 
as to keep the minds of the pupils moving from point to 
related point with sufficient rate to sustain the interest 
and hold the attention, and with sufficient force to fix the 
thought. The teacher thinks and presents ; the pupils 
Ksten and think. They see and understand, follow the 
line of thought closely, and assent to or dissent from the 
conclusions. 

This method is often supplemented with notes and 
outlines given by the teacher or taken at random by the 
pupils. The students are expected to review the lesson 
from these notes, and sometimes to reproduce the 
substance of it in oral or written form. 

1. Advantage of this Method to the Teacher. 

(a) It enables the teacher to teach a large class. 

,(b) It makes the teacher clear, strong, and logical in 
thought and expression. 

(c) It tends to add greatly to the learning of the teacher. 

249 



250 The recitation 

University professors who use this method often be- 
come leaders in thought and scholastic attainment. 

2. Advantage to Pupil. 

(a) It instructs the child. We are told that " Telling is 
not teaching." This is true only when the information 
imparted falls upon a passive mind. Telling is not the 
best kind of teaching, yet, nevertheless, it may be re- 
garded as teaching, — a form of presentation when the 
information is received by an active mind. When fuel 
falls upon extinct fires it produces no heat ; not so, how- 
ever, if there is sufficient fire to ignite it. So telling is 
teaching when it stimulates thought, — that is, when the 
inner activities respond to the external presentation. 

(b) This method helps to make the pupil who follows the 
teacher closely, assenting to or dissenting from his conclu- 
sion, clear, strong, and logical in thought. 

3. Disadvantages to the Teacher. 

(a) It gives little skill in the work of presentation aside 
from the ability to lecture. 

(b) It seldom develops a teacher strong in class manage- 
ment. 

(c) It fails to reveal to the teacher the pupiV s grasp of the 
subject. It gives him no opportunity to measure and 
weigh his ability. As a means, therefore, of testing his 
preparation, knowledge, power, or skill it is the poorest 
of all methods. 

{d) It gives to the teacher less knowledge of practical 
pedagogy and child study, possibly, than any other method. 
This knowledge ordinarily comes to the teacher as he 
observes the inner response which the pupil makes to 
external presentation. This method, as already noted, 
may fail to arouse mental action, but when it does stim- 
ulate thought it affords the teacher little opportunity to 



1 



INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 251 

watch the movement of that thought and to measure 
and to weigh it. The thought of an individual is best 
measured by what he says and by what he does, and, as 
this method requires neither action nor speech on the 
part of the learner, it reveals almost nothing of his acts 
and habits of thought. Mental action is possible without 
speech ; yet language is the great medium through which 
it manifests itself. This method thus reduces the art of 
teaching to a mere process for imparting knowledge. 
4. Disadvantages to the Pupil. 

(a) It puts the pupil into a passive^ receptive condition 
rather than an active^ constructive attitude of mind. 

(b) It tends to suppress the natural imptdses of the child 
to speak and act. This helps to defeat the whole purpose 
of the method by inducing mental inactivity. The fire 
that is not permitted to burn goes out, and the child that is 
not permitted to speak or act and thus give external 
evidence of his mental activity is likely to turn it aside 
to some more inviting field. 

(c) It does not test preparation and therefore may not 
encourage it. 

(d) It tends to suppress the natural interest of the child^ 
and as a result often fails to hold his attention. To take 
no part in a recitation beyond that of listening to a 
lecture on the subject by the teacher is likely to quench, 
rather than fan, the fires of interest. The child who 
feels that he has nothing to do but listen, will, in all 
probability, soon regard that as unnecessary, and thus 
allow his mind to wander at pleasure ; but active partici- 
pation in the work arouses and sustains his interest and 
helps to fix his attention. 

(e) The lecture method is weak in its opportunities for 
practice^ through which skill and power are acquired. 



252 THE RECITATION 

Knowledge, skill, and power are the objective points of 
every recitation. The first is the result of study or in- 
struction ; the second comes from drill ; the third is de- 
veloped by a vigorous exercise of the various powers of 
the mind and by the application of known principles to 
concrete cases. 

It is evident that this is an excellent method of im- 
parting knowledge. But when divorced from other 
methods, it affords little opportunity for the drill that 
gives skill, and for the training that results in power. 
It may give the child knowledge, but not the ability to 
use and apply it. 

This method as such has no place in the public school. 
It belongs to the university, where the teacher is in pos- 
session of fresh knowledge on the subject not yet in print, 
The Lecture ^^ where the subject matter of the lesson 
Method as a h^g j^ggn gathered from sources too vast 
belongs to the and Varied for the student's research, or that 
Higher Schools. ]ig bcyoud Ms rcach. It may be used to ad- 
vantage in the college, but in every case its use should be 
limited to advanced students who are impelled by an in- 
tense purpose to know and understand what is presented, 
and who have some power to verify and apply it. 

But while this method is not to be used in the elemen- 
tary school, the teacher is not to infer that it is wrong to 
impart knowledge by direct instruction. On the contrary, 
it is his duty to tell the class many things, but not the 
things that lie on or beneath the surface of the text. 
These should reveal themselves to the student in his 
study, or in the teaching part of the recitation, where the 
child is so directed in his investigations that he is re- 
warded with the joy of discovery. But it is always in 
order for the teacher to throw additional light on the 



INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 253 

subject, especially such light as is needed by the child for 
a full comprehension of the subject, and yet is not of 
sufficient importance in itself to repay him for the time 
spent in the individual research needed in gathering it 
for himself. 

The lecture method holds a most important place in 
the education of the masses outside the university and 
the college. It is the one employed by the puipitand 
pulpit and the platform. This is necessary, Platform 
first, because no other method lends itself Lecture 
so readily to the instruction of large assem- Method, 
blies, and, second, because the subject matter of the lesson 
is not to be found in convenient form for the perusal of 
the people. But wherever used it must always fail with 
the individual unless it sustains his interest and holds his 
attention. 

n.— THE QUESTION METHOD. 

In this method the teacher asks questions about the 
subject matter and the pupils answer them. The teacher 
endeavors by skilful, orderly, systematic questions to 
present the salient features and the lesson facts of a sub- 
ject clearly and logically and to have the pupils examine, 
discover, and understand them. These questions rivet 
the attention of the learner upon the facts and points and 
relations to be known. If the child, guided by these ques- 
tions, is not led to discover and understand that which 
the teacher would have him know, the teacher is ex- 
pected by direct statement, suggestion, and illustration to 
throw such light upon it as will render it luminous. In 
a word, the child discovers and understands new facts, 
sees new relations, and reaches new conclusions, and 
thus masters a subject by reason of the investigations he 



254 THE RECITATION 

makes, guided by the questions and suggestions of a skil- 
ful teacher. 

The questions may be so framed and directed as to 
develop the subject in a systematic and logical manner. 
Each question grows out of the knowledge previously 
mastered in such a way that, as the pupil masters the 
underlying principles, notes the current of causes and 
the tendency toward effects, his mind is forced by the 
logic of known conditions to discover the next step in 
the development of the subject. Guided by these ques- 
tions, under the light of these conditions, the learner's 
mind, in its investigations, sweeps every part of the lesson 
field, and of necessity must discover the next logical link 
in the lesson chain. The mind of the child moves for- 
ward in its voyage of discovery, guided by these ques- 
tions and illumined by the light of his own thought and 
by that of existing conditions. 

This phase of the question method is sometimes called 
the development method. It is to be noted that this de- 
velopment refers only to thought, not to subject matter. 
You cannot draw out from the mind facts not in it, but 
you can make it think logically about the facts in its pos- 
session. If the pupil has not made definite preparation. 
Guessing ^^^ the tcachcr's questions are vague and 

Contests. general, this development is likely to degen- 

erate into a mere guessing contest. But pointed questions 
guide the mind as it reviews in thought what it knows. 

In class instruction the question has a variety of uses. 

1. It may call for the contents of the child'' s memory. 
Such questions are needed to test knowledge, but they 
are the very lowest grade of pedagogical questions. 

2. Others may be used to awaken interest. These are 
important in that they prepare the mind for what is to 



INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 255 

follow. They raise it to the white heat of expectancy, the 
most opportune condition when presentation will do its 
greatest work. They get the mental camera ready, as it 
were, for the flash-light of presentation. 

3. Others direct ike mind in its investigations. The child 
has some related facts that will help him to grasp and 
interpret the thing he is trying to know. The question 
directs him to those known facts, calls them Kinds of 
up into consciousness, and helps to hold the Questions. 
known side by side with the unknown. It thus guides 
the mind in the process by which the unknown becomes 
the known. In a word, these questions stimulate 
thought. 

The first of these classes of questions may be called 
testing questions. They call for what the child has, and 
the mental repetition occasioned by them helps to deepen 
impression and thus to fix knowledge more firmly in the 
mind. They call for the contents of the mind, however, 
rather than for its exercise^ and train the child to give 
rather than to get. 

The questions included in the second and third divis- 
ions serve a different purpose. They arouse the mind 
and get it ready to see, to grasp and to know. They direct 
its investigations and lead it to discover and to under- 
stand the thing hitherto unknown, and make it a part of 
the mind's equipment for future service. The purpose 
of these questions is to get the mind to examine and com- 
prehend the unknown rather than to relate the known. 
They may be called thought questions. They demand a 
special product that must be produced by the processes 
of thought before it can be delivered. They train the 
pupil to get through these processes what he would give. 
They stimulate the thought that discovers new relations 



256 THE RECITATION 

and reaches new conclusions, and that grasps, interprets, 
and assimilates the thing hitherto unknown. 

In the use of the question method, then, great care 
must be exercised lest testing questions only are em- 
ployed, thus allowing the recitation to degenerate into a 
mere examination. The questions must do more than 
search the mind in quest of superficial information. 
They must arouse and direct the thought of the child. 
They must demand a product, not of the memory alone^ 
but also of the mind^ one that the processes of thought 
must either discover or make before it can be delivered. 
Any method that tests preparation simply by asking for 
the contents of the mind, rather than for the exercise of 
it, is the method of a novice. It is only a part, and the 
least important part, of a legitimate method. For 
nothing in the school, or out of it, in any method can 
ever take the place of thought. 

1. Advantages of this Method to the Teacher. 

(a) It enables him to test preparation^ knowledge^ power, 
and skill, and thus encoui'age study. 

(b) It makes the teacher skilful in method and manage- 
ment. 

(c) It reveals the contents and limitations of the child''s 
mind, the quality of its fibre, and the habits of its thought, 
thus giving to the teacher the knowledge needed in order 
to instruct the child. He discovers not only what to 
teach and illustrate, but also the level of the child's 
capabilities at which the work will give the largest returns. 

(d) It affords ample opportunity for direct instruction, 
and for a systematic development of the subject. 

(e) It lends itself with equal facility to every part oj the 
recitation. It is the main instrument in the test or 
examination, and in the drill ; it also reveals just what 



INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 257 

should be taught, and actually calls up the similar known 
facts by which the unknown is to be understood and 
interpreted. 

2. Advantag-es of this Method to the Pupil. 

(a) It tends to sustain the interest and hold the attention 
by keeping slow minds moving and sleepy minds awake. 

(6) It affords ample opportunity to apply rules and 
principles in the development of power and in the acqui- 
sition of skill. 

(c) It demands individual thought and expression. 

(d) It trains in the art of study ^ not only by testing 
preparation and demanding thoroughness, but also by 
the manner in which the investigations are directed. 

(e) If the teacher is logical and analytic in thought^ it 
tends to develop similar power in the child. 

This method is well adapted to the work of the ele- 
mentary school. It surpasses every other method in 
opportunity to test preparation, knowledge, power, and 
skill, to demand thoroughness, and to arouse and direct 
thought. 

As a general rule, the teacher should avoid the ques- 
tions so often printed in the book, not because they are 
not good, but because he can, and generally does, use 
them without putting his own thought into them. This 
degrades both the teacher and his art, the Lifeless and 
one into a machine, the other into a mechani- Formal 
cal process. Such questions are said to be Questions. 
like the bird-tracks made in the mud of former ages, now 
hardened into flinty rock. They show where a living 
creature once stood, though they, themselves, are lifeless 
and formal. 

These printed questions are very helpful to the child 
in trying, to master a subject, but too often they rob the 



268 THE RECITATION 

teacher of his vitalizing power and the teaching process 
of much of its skill. Thought calls for thought. The 
thinking teacher makes thinking pupils. And the teacher 
who, with a definite purpose in mind, thoughtfully frames 
the best question he can, even though it is not the best 
that could be asked, does himself more good, and the 
pupil, too, than the one who mechanically repeats the 
questions framed by the author. Pupils should drink 
from " a running stream, not a stagnant pool," as ArJiold 
remarked, and they should dip up the life-giving water 
not with a rusty tin made when the book was printed, 
but with a bright new cup made for the occasion. A 
question hot with the burning thought of an active mind 
is generally more effective than one coined in the 
author's mould and left embalmed in lifeless form upon 
the printed page. 

There are three occasions, however, when a teacher 
may use these printed questions. First, when he can do 
no better ; second, when he thinks into the subject and 
whentouie through it as the author does, and thus 
Printed makcs the questions the vehicles for his own 

ues lonB. thought ; and third, when the author sums 
up the essential points of a subject in logical order in a 
systematic review. But even then they should be 
warmed with the fresh thought of an active mind. 

But there are some phases of this question method 
that teachers should note in order to avoid. Many ques- 
tions may be asked that are irrelevant and therefore out 
of place. Others call for unimportant details, and still 
others may be poorly phrased and out of their logical 
order. Indeed, some teachers become so expert in the 
use of this method that they can question a class at great 
length upon a subject of which they have little knowl- 



INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 259 

edge themselves. Their questions are blind and unre- 
lated. They have their pupils browse around in the 
field of the non-essential, picking up a stray, simd 
isolated fact here and there, without leading Questions, 
them to the vital issues that are to be grasped and under- 
stood. It is not the number of questions asked, but 
the character of them that marks the teacher's skill and 
power. Ordinarily much time is wasted by idle, irrele- 
vant, empty questions. 

ni.— THE SOORATIO METHOD. 

This is sometimes called the question method. It 
resembles the developing part of this method, and yet it 
may be well to examine it individually. 

It takes its name from Socrates, who originated and 
used it as he taught in the streets and marts of Athens. 
He was not attractive in appearance, "with his thick 
lips, snub nose, corpulent body, and personal ugliness ; " 
yet he is one of the most attractive characters in all his- 
tory, and is remembered as the founder of this method 
and as the most famous and fascinating teacher of 
antiquity. 

Socrates, as Dr. Brumbaugh suggests, assumed (1) that 
the child was ignorant, (2) that truth is implicit in every 
soul, and (3) that the question was the means of self- 
revelation, i. e., the means of making conscious what was 
unconscious in the soul. 

He was the first teacher to organize the art of ques- 
tioning. He placed it upon a scientific basis. He aimed 
to give training to the mind by thinking, to increase its 
power to examine, to discover, and to verify, rather than 
to enlarge its store of knowledge by exposition. 

This method avoids direct statement of fact on the 
part of the teacher, and strives by questions to lead the 



260 THE RECITATION 

pupil to express an opinion on the subject under discus- 
sion. The teacher detects the truth or falsity of that 
opinion, but does not state it. By a series of questions 
the pupil is led to examine this opinion, to bring to bear 
upon it all the force of fact and reason at his command 
in an effort to discover whether it is true or false. This 
process continues until the learner discovers the absurd- 
ity or the validity of the statement, and is led to reaffirm 
or revise it as his conclusion demands. 

It is well to note that statement is not always fact, that 
conclusions are not always correct, and that opinions are 
Plato's ^^^ always sound. Plato defined opinion 

Definition of " as Something more dusky than knowledge 
pinion. ^^^ more luminous than ignorance." This 

method rejects statement until it is verified, and conclu- 
sion until it is weighed in the sound balances of logic 
and thought. It causes opinion to emerge from the 
dusky shadows, to step out from the haze and the mist 
into the full light of reason and judgment, and to take 
its place on the side of truth or on the side of error as 
its merits demand. 

1. Perhaps a clearer notion of this method may be 
given by stating formally its fundamental characteristics : 

(a) It avoids direct instruction. 

(h) It leads the learner to make a statement about the 
subject under consideration^ or it takes a statement already 
made or an opinion held by another. 

(c) It requires that the teacher shall detect the soundness 
or the absurdity of the statement or the opinion^ but not 

ASSERT it. 

(d) It causes the learner to examine that statement, to 
weigh that opinion, to test them by all the power of fact 
and reason at his command, and thereby discover their 
truth or their falsity. 



INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 261 

(e) It concludes by leading the pupil to revise or reaffirm 
the statement^ to reject or accept the opinion. 

The purpose of this method is not to impart knowl- 
edge, but to help the learner to see more clearly with 
what he has ; to reveal latent truth through a better 
use of his mental equipment ; to arouse it and bring it 
up into consciousness ; and in the light of reason and 
judgment to require him to verify and confirm and 
finally to revise, reaffirm, or to annul his previously con- 
ceived opinions. This method assumes that it is better 
for the student to survey the field, examine the facts, 
and reach conclusions than to try to force them upon 
him. It would draw out rather than pour in. 

The process of this method is pre-eminently a process 
of thought. Its steps are examination, investigation, 
comparison, and conclusion. Thought, as generally 
analyzed, includes three stages or processes, — concep- 
tion, judgment, and reasoning. And it is observed that 
while this method does not entirely avoid the first it 
employs mainly the second and third. 

The instrument of the Socratic method is the ques- 
tion. All kinds of questions may be used that will aid 
in reaching the desired end, but two classes are impor- 
tant. First, those that convince of error, and second, those 
that reveal truth more clearly. The learner must be made 
to see the magnitude of his error and the extent of his 
folly by bringing him face to face with the consequences 
of his absurd, illogical, and contradictory opinions. To 
Convincing couvince him of his error is the first step 
of Error. toward B. revision of his opinion. Until he 

sees his absurd opinion as others see it, he is usually 
unwilling to discard or revise it. 

But to shatter the foundations of absurd opinion is 



262 THE RECITATION 

not in itself sufficient. For absence of opinion in edu- 
cation is not the aim of true teaching. The questions 
that convince of error only clear the way for those that 
are to lay the foundations and build up sound judg- 
ments that give clearness, content, and limitations to 
ideas that are struggling for birth in the mind of the 
Making child. Thcse help to make vague truth defi- 

vague Notions nite, misty notions clear, and to bring out 
into the open sunlight of mind that which 
before flitted in the maze and shadow of mental indis- 
tinctness. In all phases of interrogatory method there 
are different kinds of questions, but in the Socratic 
method the questions that convince of error, and that 
arouse latent truth, and bring to light half-hidden ideas 
are by far the most important. 

2. Advantages of the Socratic Method to the 
Teacher. 

(a) It gives him keen insight and sound judgment in dis- 
criminating between truth and error. 

(b) It makes him clear and strong in discussion. With 
the resources and skill of a dialectician, he stands firmly 
entrenched behind the ramparts of fact, logic, and argu- 
ment. 

(c) It develops the habit of selecting and following a 
controlling aim, so often absent from the question method. 
He sees the end from the beginning and unifies and in- 
tensifies all his efforts in the attempt to reach it. It 
helps to develop the executive power of the mind as it 
strives to organize and direct the resources at its com- 
mand toward a definite end. 

3. Advantages of this Method to the Pupil. 

(a) It gives rapid mental development and great mental 



INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 263 

power^ making the learner clear, strong, and logical in 
thought. 

(6) It gives judicial mental poise as the result of a care- 
Jul examination of all the facts. 

(c) It gives positive convictions not easily set aside that 
tend to make the mind independent in thought, because 
this method puts the burden of observation, examination, 
and conclusion upon the learner. 

{d) It gives to the pupil the joy of discovery and the 
calm confidence that springs from a consciousness of 
power. 

It is evident that this method cannot be applied to all 
kinds of school work. As a method of imparting knowl- 
edge it is helpless. It gives exercise, not nourishment, 
to the mind. Its province is to develop mental power 
with what the child has, not to convey to him additional 
facts. 

It is one of the most difficult of methods. Only a 
master can use it. Indeed, it is so difficult that its ex- 
clusive use is seldom found. But it occupies an impor- 
tant place as a part of other methods in the presentation 
of certain subjects and the principles upon which they 
rest, and in exercises designed especially to develop the 
habit of independent thought. 

IV.— THE TOPIC METHOD. 

In this method topics are assigned to individual pupils 
and they are asked to recite. They may respond through 
the medium of either oral or written expression. 

1. Three phases of this method are met in actual prac- 
tice. The first may be called the verbal phase, the sec- 
ond the thought phase, and the third the discussion phase. 
In the first the child recites the topic in the exact phrase- 
ology of the text ; in the second he states the substance 



264 THE RECITATION 

of it in his own words ; while in the third he discusses it, 
pointing out how other authorities have treated it, noting 
the different views and opinions, and stating what he 
thinks of them. 

(a) The verbal phase. The verbal phase of this method is 
of little value. It tests superficial preparation somewhat, 
but it requires mainly an act of the memory. It makes 
great verbal memories but not strong minds, for in it the 
mind recalls what it may or may not comprehend. This 
is the method in use in China. When found alone, 
divorced from question, suggestion, or illustration, it is 
the weakest and poorest of all the shams found in the 
^. _, , , class-room. It is in the little world of the 

If a Veroal 

Recital of school-kecpcr, and nowhere else, that it is 
Terching, then Called teaching. If this verbatim recital of 
Pedagogy is a a topic is teaching, then pedagogy is a myth, 
the science and the art of teaching are 
dreams, and the normal school a thing unnecessary. 
Under such conditions no trained teachers are needed, 
for any individual who can read and hear may listen 
to a child while he recites words. 

This phase of the method was once very prominent in 
the work in geography, history, physiology, and civics. 
These subjects are generally presented in the text by 
topics, and the first attempts of young students to study 
a lesson are always attempts to memorize it. But prog- 
ress in the art of study and the art of teaching soon 
leads the pupil away from such empty efforts and lifts 
the teacher above such foolish methods. 

(h) The thought phase. This phase rises in the scale 
of importance. It is far superior to the first. It calls 
for an act, not of the memory alone, but of the mind. 
To state the substance of what has filtered through the 



INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 265 

understanding into the mind, not only tests preparation 
and induces study, but also cultivates the power of sus- 
tained thought and expression. This phase may be used 
to great advantage in the upper grammar grade and in 
the high school. It lends itself v^ith great facility in topic 
branches, but not until the learner has acquired some 
proficiency in the art of study. 

(c) The discussion phase. This is still more difficult 
than the others. It exercises the mind in the higher 
realms of thought and gives a better result than either of 
the other phases. But it can be used to a limited extent 
only, below the high school. To discuss a topic not only 
tests preparation and cultivates the habit of connected 
thought and expression, but also demands that the pupil 
shall make some research, that he shall examine, weigh, 
and verify what he finds, and then reach definite con- 
clusions on the subject. And to do this develops, as it 
demands, a superior type of ability. 

The discussion should be carried on in a broad, digni- 
fied, deliberate way in a sincere effort to pass judgment 
upon all and select the best, and at no time should it be 
permitted to degenerate into petty disputation. 

The topic method is often supplemented by other 
methods. The class may be questioned about the topic 
recited, the teacher or some pupil may add by direct state- 
ment information not found in the text, and the whole 
turned into the vortex of class discussion. The lecture, 
the question, and topic methods are thus united and form 
a combined method embodying the strong point in each. 

2. Advantages of the Topic Method to the Teacher. 

(a) In the verbal and thought phases of this method little 
is required of the teacher and little is gained by him. As 
such it is the most barren of all methods in what it con- 



266 THE RECITATION 

tributes to the teacher's power and skill. Its excessive 
use tends to develop a lazy, indifferent teacher who " hears 
the children say their lessons." 

(b) In the discussion phase it gives skill in class manage- 
ment^ and a masterly intellectual grasp of the subject 
taught, due to the extended research needed to guide 
the discussion, and to a knowledge of the varied stand- 
points from which authorities have treated it. 

(c) The thought and discussion phases of this method 
reveal to the teacher the pupil's knowledge, power, and 
skill, and therefore indicate the point at which instruc- 
tion and drill must be given and the level on which 
they must be pitched to accomplish their purpose. 

(d) The combination method makes a teacher expert in 
almost every phase of class work and class management^ 
develops the power to use reference books and other 
authorities to advantage, and at the same time gives a 
broad and comprehensive knowledge of the subject. 

3. Advantage of the Topic Method to the Pupil. 

(a) The topic method operating through its verbal phase 
gives a strong verbal memory. 

(b) The thought phase of this method not only gives a 
comprehensive knowledge of the subject^ but it also develops 
continuity of thought and the power of connected expression. 
These may be regarded as the great contribution of the 
topic method. 

(c) The discussion phase exceeds the thought phase of this 
method in the intellectual grasp of the subject and in the 
strength of mind and the power of expression it gives. 
It is also rich in the contribution it makes to the learner's 
ability to consult authorities, to weigh their statements, 
to accept or reject their opinions, to reach individual 
conclusions, and to set them forth in language that will 



INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 267 

both inform and convince. It gives to the student the 
very best habits and powers of study. 

4. Disadvantages of the Topic Method. When this 
method is divorced from all others it has some elements 
of weakness in it. This is especially true when it avoids 
the last and operates only through » its first and second 
phases. 

(a) Under such conditions it affo7'ds no opportunity/ for 
the teacher to instruct. He simply " hears recitations." 

(6) The recitation may deal only with superficial facts^ 
and may^ therefore^ waste much time on non-essentials. Pupils 
taught by this method, unless they are well advanced in 
the art of study, are likely to gather and give only the 
general facts that he on the surface, and thus overlook 
the vital issues and the fundamental principles that are 
beneath. The things worth knowing are often hard to 
find, and reveal themselves only to the persistent student 
in his study or through the skill of the instructor in the 
class-room. 

In another part of this treatment of the recitation we 
have discussed the subject of presentation and pointed 
out some of its essential characteristics. It is to be 
noted that this method avoids presentation, The Topic 
because there is no place for actual instruc- Method aroids 
tion in it. The term "recite" is used in its 
literal sense, and the child simply tells what he has 
learned, either in his own words or in those of the text. 
The method has its merits, but its disadvantages indicate 
the lack of wisdom in using it to the exclusion of all 
others. 

We frequently hear of other methods, but they are not 
of sufficient importance to require separate treatment. 
Indeed, they are only parts or phases of the individual 



268 THE RECITATION 

methods already discussed. The so-called direct method 
is only a part of the lecture method. The discussion 
method is, as has been seen, only a phase of the topic 
method. Then we read also of the oral, the written, the 
concert, the consecutive, and the promiscuous methods. 
These are not methods in themselves, — they refer only 
to the language form of methods and to the manner in 
which pupils are asked and permitted to take part. 

v.— SUMMARY. 

In concluding this discussion of individual methods it 
may be well to sum up by designating in a general way 
the place and use of each method. In doing this, we 
must bear in mind that these methods may be analytic 
or synthetic, inductive or deductive, objective or subjec- 
tive, or empirical or rational. 

1. The lecture method belongs to the university and 
the college. It has no place in the elementary and sec- 
ondary school, except incidentally to impart instruction^ 
and thus supplement the work of other methods. 

2. In the work of the elementary grades the question 
method is one of the most appropriate, but its process, 
as a rule, should be inductive, objective, empirical, and 
both analytic and synthetic. 

3. In the grammar grades and the high school the 
topic method may be used to great advantage in giving 
continuity to thought and cogency to expression. But it 
should operate through its thought and discussion phases ; 
and, in order that the teacher should have an opportu- 
nity to instruct and to point out vital principles, it should 
be supplemented by the lecture and the question methods. 
The process in these grades should be more analytic, 
deductive, subjective, and rational than with younger 
pupils. 



INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 269 

The verbal phase of the topic method which requires 
the mere verbal repetition of paragraphs should have no 
place in any school, except as a process for training 
verbal memory. 

4. If the teacher is skilful enough to use them, the 
Socratic method and the discussion phase of the topic 
method may be used to great advantage in the higher 
grammar grades and the high school. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

METHODS 

I.— Lecture Method. 

1. Advantages to the teacher. 

(a) Enables him to teach a large class. 

(b) Makes him clear, strong, and logical in thought 

and expression. 

(c) Tends to make him scholarly. 

2. Advantages to the pupil. 

(a) It instructs him. 

(b) It helps to make him clear and strong in 

thought. 

3. Disadvantages to the teacher. 

(a) Gives little skill aside from the ability to lecture. 

(6) Gives little skill in class management. 

(c) Fails to reveal the pupil's grasp of the subject. 

(d) Gives little knowledge of pedagogy and child 

study. 

4. Disadvantages to the pupil. 

(a) Renders his mind passive and receptive rather 

than active. 
(6) Suppresses natural impulse to speak and act. 

(c) Fails to test and encourage preparation. 

(d) Suppresses natural interest. 
(c) Gives no opportunity for drill. 



270 THE RECITATION 

II. — Question Method. 

1. Advantages to the teacher. 

{a) Enables him to test preparation. 

(b) Makes him skilful in method and management. 

(c) Affords him ample opportunity to instruct. 

(d) May be used in every part of the recitation. 

(e) Reveals the contents and limitations of the 

child's mind. 

2. Advantages to the pupil. 

(a) Sustains interest and holds attention. 

(b) Gives ample opportunity for drill. 

(c) Demands individual thought. 

(d) Trains in the art of study. 

(e) Develops analytic power. 

III. — SocRATic Method. 

1. Formal statement. 

(a) It avoids direct instruction. 

(b) It leads the child to make a statement or to 

express an opinion. 

(c) It demands that the teacher shall detect but not 

express the truth or error of the statement. 

(d) It leads the learner to test or verify the opinion. 

(e) It concludes by having him reaffirm or revise his 

statement or opinion. 

2. Advantages to teacher. 

(a) It gives insight and judgment in detecting truth 

or error. 

(b) It makes him clear and strong in argument. 

(c) It develops the habit of selecting and following a 

controlling aim. 
8. Advantages to pupil. 

(a) It develops a mind strong and logical in thought. 

(b) It gives the pupil judicial mental poise. 

(c) It gives him positive convictions. 

(d) It gives him the joy of discovery and the confi- 

dence that comes from tested strength. 



J 



INDIVIDUAL METHODS IN THE RECITATION 271 

IV. — Topic Method. 

1. Phases of this method. 

(a) Verbal phase. 

(b) Thought phase. 

(c) Discussion phase. 

2. Advantages to the teacher. 

(a) Verbal phase makes him indifferent and lazy. 

(b) The discussion phase gives skill in management 

and a great intellectual grasp of subject. 

(c) The thought and discussion phases reveal the 

pupil's needs and capacity. 

(d) The combination method gives skill in class in- 

struction and class management. 

3. Advantages to the pupil. 

(a) Verbal phase gives verbal memory. 

(b) Thought phase gives continuity of thought and 

expression. 

(c) Discussion phase gives masterly grasp of the 

subject and ability to study. 

4. Disadvantages of the topic method. 

(a) It affords no opportunity to instruct. 

(b) It m.ay deal only with the superficial facts. 

V. — Summary. 

1. Place and use of lecture method.- 

2. Place, use, and process of question method. 

3. Place, use, process, and phases of topic method. 

4. Place and use of Socratic method. 



PART III 

CHAPTER III 

ORAL AND WRITTEN WORK IN THE 
RECITATION 



What an eye-opener a searching written examination would 
be in schools where teachers talk and explain much, and the 
pupils recite very little, where the instruction is given largely in 
the form of running talks without a halt to test results ! 

Emerson E. White 



CHAPTER III 
ORAL AND WRITTEN WORK IN THE RECITATION 

The living word is the most powerful agent of instruction. — 

ROSENKRANZ. 

We have examined individual methods in an effort to 
ascertain their contents and Kmitations, the strength and 
weakness of each, and the fundamental processes through 
which they operate. We are now to study the value of 
oral and written work and ascertain, if possible, the place 
and the merits of each. 

All language is either spoken or written. And it is 
evident that every method used in the recitation employs 
one or both of these forms of expression. Some use the 
oral, others the written, and frequently one may use both. 

The lecture method in imparting knowledge ordinarily 
uses the medium of spoken language, yet it often demands 
of the student a written statement of the substance of 
the lesson. The question and the Socratic methods gen- 
erally operate through oral expression, but they, too? 
may employ written language to reproduce what was 
taught, while the topic method employs both forms with 
equal facility. 

I.— THE ORAL PHASE OF RECITATION WORK. 

In the primary grades the language employed in the 
recitation must be largely oral. This is necessarily true 
until the child can read script and write with sufficient 

275 



276 THE RECITATION 

facility to take part in a written recitation. He must be 
taught to know through the eye what he knows through 
the ear, and to express with the hand what he can 
express with the tongue before written work can be 
used to any extent in the class-room. 

But not only in the primary, but in every grade of the 
elementary school, the oral recitation is the greatest 
medium for instruction at the teacher's command. Its 
advantages over the written may be designated as follows : 

(a) It is the most natural and convenient instrument 
of instruction. The written method may be used to 
examine and train, but as a medium for practical instruc- 
tion it is very inconvenient and cumbersome. It is pre- 
eminently a method for testing and training, but not for 
teaching, while oral methods afford the most ample and 
convenient opportunities to instruct. 

(b) The oral recitation surpasses all others in its power 
to arouse the interest and sustain the attention of the 
pupils. The oral question or suggestion is a challenge 
to wavering attention. Either may be so directed to the 
listless pupil as to stir his interest and demand his atten- 
tion. 

(c) The oral recitation is the great medium through 
which the personality of the teacher makes itself potent. 
Personality is a mighty and mysterious power by which 
one man is distinguished from another. It is the indi- 
viduality of a soul externalizing and impressing itself 

upon others. The avenues through which 

The Power of ^ ^ 

Personality in a great soul influences others are the eye, 
Oral Work. ^^^ voicc, the appearance, and the manner 
of the individual. Each is important; but since the 
power of language is always reinforced by the glance of 



ORAL AND WRITTEN WORK IN THE RECITATION 277 

the eye and the attitude and action of the individual, 
the voice is one of the greatest channels through which 
the currents of a teacher's influence, from the reservoirs 
of power within, sweep outward to impress children. 
No other method offers personality such a favorable 
opportunity. 

Few teachers know the real value of oral work in the 
elementary school. This is particularly true in the de- 
partment of language. The child will speak a thousand 
words for every one he will write ; his language in life 
will be almost exclusively oral, and yet we ask him to 
write, write, write, instead of training him to speak. 

The relative value of oral and written lessons in lan- 
guage has never been clearly determined, and many 
teachers seem to think they are not teaching the subject 
unless the child is writing something. Thus, much of 
the oral work that is needed to prepare him for written 
language is neglected, and his instruction in this depart- 
ment is built upon a flimsy foundation. 

What is true of language is true also of elementary 
arithmetic. The oral drill intended to give the child 
skill is greatly neglected. Many teachers give no oral 
work in class. They fail to see that much of the time, 
possibly three-fourths of it, spent in written class work 
in elementary arithmetic, is devoted to the mechanical 
rather than to the mathematical part of the qj.^ij)j.jii 
work. Mathematical skill is the result of Greatly 
mental, not of mechanical, exercises. And ^^ ^^ ® • 
the twenty-minute period given to written class work in 
elementary arithmetic may not keep the child's mind 
engaged mathematically more than one-fourth of that 
time. Some written work, indeed much of it, is neces- 



278 THE RECITATION 

sary in giving the power to apply the fundamental oper- 
ations to the solution of problems, but in giving skill — 
that is, the ability to calculate accurately and rapidly — 
the oral drill far surpasses the written exercise, because 
so much more can be accomplished by it in the same 
period of time. 

n.— WHITTEN WORK. 

But, notwithstanding the importance of oral instruction, 
there is a prominent place in every school for written 
work. The field is limited in the primary, but it is 
somewhat enlarged in the grammar grade, and greatly 
enlarged in the high school. In every grade above the 
lowest primary there is some work of such a character 
that it demands written expression. Some things must 
be reduced to writing on board or paper for the critical ex- 
amination and inspection of pupils and teacher. Written 
tests, reviews, and re-statements are very helpful and 
valuable in measuring the efficiency, not only of the 
child's knowledge, power, and skill, but also of the oral 
methods by which he was taught. To be able to write 
clearly and accurately the substance of what was pre- 
sented by the teacher is the best evidence of the effi- 
ciency of his efforts. 

1. Kinds of Written "Work. Written work in the 
school may be considered under three heads : 

(a) Ordinary written work. 

(b) Special written work. 

(c) Written class work. 

(a) Ordinary Written Work. This is the written 
work done in the seat in the preparation of the lesson. 
It is self-imposed by the pupil as an aid in study, and is 
not to be examined or inspected by the teacher. Its 



ORAL AND WRITTEN WORK IN TEtE RECITATION 279 

v/hole aim is to prepare the pupil for the recitation which 
in its own way tests preparation. 

In advanced classes written preparation is very de- 
sirable. The fact that the mind seeks the aid of the 
pencil in its attempt to master a lesson is indicative of that 
intense desire to know and understand which lies at the 
base of all true study. Because of this, written prepa- 
ration imposed by the teacher is often less valuable than 
that which is voluntary. 

Since this work is not to be marked by the teacher the 
full measure of its value lies in the contributions it makes 
to the child in the act of preparation. These contribu- 
tions are chiefly concentration of mind, clearness and 
fulness of comprehension, and exactness in expression. 
And as this work is generally self-imposed it tends also 
to give self-reliance and self-control. 

But however valuable this work is in the advanced 
grades, there are some forms of it in the primary schools 
that waste much time and give very little in return that 
is of educative value. One of these is found in the 
senseless habit imposed by some teachers which re- 
quires the child to copy a reading lesson on slate or 
paper in the vague hope that it will prepare 
him to read it. This plan is in general prac- Reading* 
tice in some localities. It requires much Luuevaiue 
time and patient effort on the part of the 
child, and yet beyond what it contributes to habits of 
industry has little to recommend it. 

Writing a lesson does very little tow^ard preparing the 
child to read it. By actual test second-grade pupils were 
found to be able to copy accurately a dozen difficult 
lines from " Paradise Lost," and after three reproductions 
of them in writing could neither read them nor spell 



280 THE RECITATION 

the important words. A similar test showed that they 
could copy sentences composed of difficult words taken 
from the dictionary, and yet after three reproductions 
could not read or punctuate the sentences or spell the 
words. 

A test made with a paragraph from another reader of 
corresponding grade showed that little children may copy 
what they ought to be able to read without the slightest 
mental effort to read or to try to know what they had 
written. Mere copying may be a mechanical process that 
does not require the child to exercise his mind in thought 
upon the thing copied. It may be a thing of the hand 
only and not of the mind. 

Silent reading is getting thought through printed sym- 
bols ; oral reading is giving expression to it by the voice ; 
and it is a delusion to think that the mechanical copying 
Copyists know 0^ ^^6 Icssou is of any value to the child in 
Little of the either of these processes. Persons who 
what they copy dccds, bouds, and other written instru- 
write. ments seldom know the substance of what 

they have reproduced. Their entire mental effort is di- 
rected toward making an exact copy. So the mind of 
the child in writing a paragraph from the text may be 
directed toward exact reproduction and not toward 
thought-getting. 

Again, some teachers think that copying the text trains 
the child to spell the words and to capitalize and punctu- 
ate the paragraphs. This, too, is a mistake. The pur- 
pose the mind has in view in any effort it makes de- 
termines the value of that effort. If the child copies 
some work in an effort to learn how to spell the words 
and to punctuate and capitalize the paragraph, some good 
will come from it. But the teacher cannot keep this 



ORAL AND WRITTEN WORK IN THE RECITATION 281 

purpose before a class in copying a reading lesson. He 
may ask them to do the work with this end in view, but 
that will not keep it present. Regardless of instructions 
the controlling aim at least in small children must degen- 
erate into a mere mechanical reproduction. ^^^ ^^^^^^ 

Proof-readers can spell, capitalize, and punc- readers can 
tuate because that is the controlling purpose 
of their work. But copyists, who are charged with mak- 
ing an exact copy, seldom have any power to correct 
typographical errors. 

A child is taught to capitalize and punctuate first by 
giving him a knowledge of the use of marks and letters 
and then requiring him to apply that knowledge to con- 
crete examples. Inspection directed by the teacher is 
also valuable, but mere copying gives little return. In 
learning to punctuate, the hand does what the mind sug- 
gests. In copying the hand reproduces what the eye 
sees, and there can be no assurance that the mind dwells 
in thought upon the w^ork. If the mind in transcribing 
a paragraph is practically inactive in thought and suggests 
nothing, the work is carried on as a mere mechanical 
process. Such exercises are valuable in keeping the 
child employed, but they are almost valueless in what 
they contribute to mental growth. 

There is another form of written preparation that de- 
serves some attention. In some schools children are re- 
quired to write spelling lessons and lists of misspelled 
words in the hope that such repetition will train them 
to spell. It may or it may not. Repetition 

, . 1 1 I o I n • « 1 It is the Mind, 

IS certamly an element or strength m teach- not the Hand, 

ing, and in another chapter we have dis- thatieamsto 
cussed its merits and pointed out as far as 

possible the principles that determine the number of 



282 THE RECITATION 

repetitions necessary. But it is mental rather than 
physical repetitions that are valuable in learning to spell. 
It is the mind, not the hand, that is the principal agent in 
the effort to learn. If the mind dwells upon the spell- 
ing of the word, the effort is valuable ; if not, it is lost. 

To copy a list of words is certainly not conclusive evi- 
dence that the mind has consciously examined and stud- 
ied each. And it is the conscious not the mechanical 
eifort that trains it. If the mind notices carefully the 
spelling of a word, it will not be necessary to write it 
often, and if the writing is unconscious and mechanical, 
the repetition is of little value. In either case the work 
is largely a waste of time and energy. And you may 
occasionally find a word written correctly four or five 
times and then an error appears that is repeated as often 
as it is written. 

In copying either a reading or a spelling lesson the 
mind of the little child seldom examines a word as a 
whole. This is especially true with reference to long 
words. The eye catches a group of letters, not neces- 
sarily a syllable, and the hand reproduces it; another 
group is seen and reproduced. Thus the work proceeds 
by adding detached, fragmentary, and unre- 
often only the latcd parts. And since the mind seldom 
RrroXction ^otices the word as a whole or by syllables, 
of unrelated or dwclls upou the idea it represents, the ex- 
^^^^^' ercise may be of little value either in train- 

ing the child to spell or to get thought from the printed 
page. Indeed, the whole process of copying in the ele- 
mentary school should be regarded more as a mechanical 
than a mental effort. It is devoid generally of all pur- 
pose and conscious effort beyond mere reproduction and 
is therefore generally devoid of value. 



ORAL AND WRITTEN WORK IN THE RECITATION 283 

(b) Special 'Written Work. This work is prepared 
for some specific purpose and is to be submitted to the 
teacher for examination and inspection. 

It has a legitimate field in the grammar grade and the 
high school, but it must be used with judgment and mod- 
eration. If the child can copy the work, it is almost 
useless ; but if it requires originality of thought and ex- 
pression, it is both desirable and valuable. 

This work is done either in or out of school, but not 
in class. It may include the analysis of sentences, the 
parsing of words, the making of outlines not found in 
the book, the writing of topics, the drawing of maps, and, 
if the work is so guarded that no help may be gotten, it 
may also include problems in arithmetic and algebra 
and work in geometry. It includes also the writing of 
compositions and the reviews of subjects previously stud- 
ied. This may be done out of school. But to lift com- 
position above compilation, and to make a written review 
most valuable in thought and expression, the work should 
be done in the school-room under the eye of the teacher. 

This work is all to be examined. That was part of 
the purpose in preparing it. It has a double value to the 
child ; that derived from its preparation, and that which 
springs from its correction. At the same time it reveals 
to the teacher the knowledge, power, and skill of the 
child and thus enables him to give the exact instruction 
needed and to grade it to the level where it will do the 
most good. 

1. When and how to mark this work is a problem as 
difficult as perplexing. It must not only be marked, but 
to accomplish the full measure of its purpose the child 
must be brought face to face with his errors. This may 
be done by taking a period for discussing them. In 



284 THE RECITATION 

reading the papers some teachers keep a scratch-book, 
marking in it the errors of individual pupils. This 
scratch-book furnishes the points for that 
Scratch-book in discussion and enables the teacher to bring 
correcting ^j^^ correctiou of an error home to the 

Errors. 

pupil who made it. 

If conditions require it, two or even more periods for 
discussing errors should be taken. For to omit this part 
of the work is to fail to teach just what the class needs, 
and this failure tends to rob the written exercise of much 
of its value. Reading the papers simply reveals the 
errors, but the period for discussion and instruction aims 
to remove the tendency to make them. If this is not 
done the same error may appear in a pupil's work 
month after month. But " Error, assailed, reels and 
staggers like a drunken man," and, after numerous as- 
saults, will reel out of sight and appear no more. 

This special written work includes also the monthly, 
quarterly, and final examinations. In conducting these 
it is an excellent plan to prepare the questions on sepa- 
rate slips suitably numbered. Each pupil is given a slip 
with one question on it. When he has answered it he 
brings his answer to the teacher at the desk and receives 
another slip. The teacher gives him credit for his an- 
swer, and thus the work proceeds. This plan has two 
advantages. It allows the teacher to read and mark the 
work during the examination and thus saves many an 
hour outside of school. At the same time it guards 
against the opportunities to "borrow information" by 
having the pupils in adjacent seats answer different ques- 
tions at the same time. For the correction of errors 
found in this work use the scratch-book and the subse- 
quent period for the special instruction, or call each 



ORAL AND WRITTEN WORK IN THE RECITATION 285 

pupil to the desk as the examination proceeds and show 
them the error in the work just handed in. 

2. There is another plan for correcting compositions 
and all phases of written work that is very helpful to the 
pupils. This plan uses a system of symbols known to 
every pupil. They stand for errors in fact, The use of a 
in syntax, in punctuation, in orthography, in system of 
capitalization. The system includes some mZung^ 
mark that will indicate all the kinds of errors Papers. 
made in ordinary composition. In reading the papers 
the teacher simply runs the pencil through the error or 
underscores it, and marks on the margin opposite the 
symbol that indicates the class to which the error be- 
longs. The papers are then handed back to the pupils 
for their inspection. They discover the mistakes, correct 
what they can of them, and rewrite either the whole 
paper or the sentences in which the errors are found. 
The teacher examines the corrections made by the 
pupil and notes in the book of errors all such points 
as are necessary to be taught over again at some future 
time. 

This method requires more time and care than many 
teachers are willing to give to this work, but it is the 
shortest route to accuracy on the part of the child. This 
plan has some advantages. 

(a) It puts the responsibility of discovering the errors 
upon the child. The symbol indicates where the error 
is to be found and the class to which it belongs, but the 
pupil must discover it. 

(b) It puts the burden of correction upon the child. 
He must consult the dictionary, the grammar, or the 
text for the knowledge that will aid him in making the 
corrections. 



286 THE RECITATION 

(c) It develops the power of critical examination and 
judgment and the power of self-help. 

{d) It brings the child face to face with his own weak- 
ness and lifts him above it by leading him to strengthen 
his powers at their weakest points. 

(c) Written Work in the Recitation. This form of 
written work includes every kind done in the class 
under the direction of a teacher. Its purpose is to have 
the pupils recite, partially at least, through the medium 
of written language in such a way as will be most help- 
ful to them. 

Ordinarily it is a reproduction of the substance of 
what the child has studied in the preparation of the 
lesson under consideration or in the reproduction of 
something formerly studied. It also embraces written 
words, sentences, problems which reveal the child's abil- 
ity in spelling, language, and mathematics. It may include 
lessons in writing, drawing, map-drawing, diagramming, 
outlining, — in short, any kind of class work intended to 
appeal to the eye of the teacher and the pupils. 

This form of written work may employ either paper or 
blackboard, and is generally used in teaching mathe- 
matics, language, spelling, and composition. It may be 
used with equal facility in teaching geography, history, 
civics, and physiology by the topic method, or in repro- 
ducing the substance of what was taught by any method. 

This work is only a means to an end, and to attain that 
end it must be inspected and discussed. Without critical 
inspection it will scarcely call forth the interest of the 
child or be pitched on the highest plane of his best effort. 

If the work is on the blackboard the whole class may 
inspect it critically under the direction of the teacher, 
makmg the pupils, as far as possible, responsible for the 



ORAL AND WRITTEN WORK IN THE RECITATION 287 

corrections. In explaining problems, demonstrating the- 
orems, analyzing sentences, or reading any kind of written 
work, the aim is to have all the pupils follow in thought, 
assentinsr to, or dissenting from, conclusions. 

The 

This is a phase of presentation in which one Explanation is 
pupil teaches others, and as such it should be ^ ^^^^® °^. 
clear, strong, logical, and to the point. And 
like all presentation, it fails in its purpose if it does not 
stimulate and direct the thought of those who are ex- 
pected to learn. The open eye fixed on the work fol- 
lowing closely the pointer in the hand of him who 
explains, and the alert ear catching every word uttered, 
are the best evidences that the purpose of the presenta- 
tion is being realized. Pupils may look and listen and 
yet not follow in thought, but ordinarily the mind is 
aroused and led through eye and ear. 

If the work is on paper, it may be read by the indi- 
vidual who wrote it, the class and the teacher noting such 
errors as appeal to the ear. Or papers may be ex- 
changed and marked. Even when most pupils use 
paper, it is wise to have a few write on the blackboard 
in order to have some work prepared for typical correc- 
tion and discussion by the class. 

2. Advantages of Written Work. Written work 
carefully planned, wisely directed, and critically inspected 
has some advantages. 

(a) It economizes time. Its method is simultaneous, 
yet individual rather than consecutive. Many may write 
at once, but only one may speak. 

The great defect of the oral recitation in practice is 
waste of time. Theoretically all are expected to be at- 
tentive, and to think with or after the one reciting. But 
in practice many mark time while one marches on. 

(6) Written work gives clearness and cogency to 



288 THE RECITATION 

thought and conciseness, exactness, and coherency to 
expression. And these qualities give tenacity and accu- 
racy to memory. 

The mind sits in judgment upon what is written, and 
thus logically and forcibly pushes the leading thought 
forward into the next sentence. " Writing makes an 
exact man," said Bacon, and when rightly employed it 
makes the pupil clear and strong in thought, and con- 
cise, forceful, and exact in statement. 

(c) Written work trains in the art of study. It reveals 
to the mind what has been mastered. By written work, 
outlines, diagrams, and examples the mind sees exactly 
what it knows, and discovers the point at which its ener- 
gies must be concentrated in order to make the unknown 
known. Study is the self-directed effort to learn. It 
implies a knowledge of the point to which the effort 
must be directed. Written work not only reveals this 
point, but in the effort to discover the leading thought 
that is to be projected into the next sentence, it actually 
trains the mind to know ; that is, to study. 

Roark summarizes the advantages of a written recita- 
tion over the oral as follows : 

1. "It gives drill in rapid writing, making the pupil 
use penmanship only as an instrument. 

2. " Writing a recitation accustoms the pupil to spell 
by eye. 

3. " Through a written recitation each pupil may be 
tested upon the whole lesson. 

4. " Writing a recitation affords a training in one of 
the most valuable forms of expression." 

But in many schools there is too much written work. 
The use of a good thing has been turned into an abuse. 
The amount of work to be corrected in some schools 



ORAL AND WRITTEN WORK IN THE RECITATION 289 

makes teaching a sort of slavery, and drains the reser- 
voirs of the teacher's vitahty almost to the point of ex- 
haustion. 

As a rule, there is too much written work in the pri- 
mary schools. Three-fourths of the day is often given 
to it. An ideal system of education would ^^^ 
not require much writing from the child much written 
during the first two years of his school life. Eiemei^tary 
It would devote little time to the prepara- school. 
tion of lessons during that period, and spend much of 
it in oral lessons and drills, followed by brief intervals 
for rest and play. Without asking him to write much, it 
would afford ample opportunity for the training of eye 
and hand. 

At present we not only ask the child to do what in 
some respects is unreasonable when viewed from the 
physiological standpoint, but we keep him doing it the 
greater part of the school day. He must write copies, 
problems, words, stories, and lessons as if writing were 
the only avenue to mental growth. 

This is due to some extent to the emphasis that has 
been placed upon " busy work" in the modern elemen- 
tary school. The term itself is absurd, as it implies that 
there are some idle kinds of w^ork. Many teachers have 
come to regard "busy work" as written work. Indeed, 
the " busy work" papers and manuals have encouraged 
this by inventing and announcing new kinds of it in 
the numerous devices which call for some form of 
written work. The child is thus enslaved in a formal 
bondage that is not only repulsive, but that actually 
retards his mental development. It is not surprising, in 
the light of such conditions, that Dr. Brumbaugh calls 
"busy work" "the fertile friend of superficiality and the 



290 THE RECITATION 

deadly enemy of all genuinely valuable mental culture." 
For much of this written work has no educative value, 
and its preparation is an alarming waste of time, energy, 
and opportunity. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

ORAL AND WRITTEN WORK IN THE RECITATION 

I. — Oral Work in the Recitation. 

1. As an instrument of instruction. 

2. As an instrument to arouse interest and sustain attention. 

3. As a medium through which personality speaks. 

II. — Written Work in the Recitation. 

1. Kinds of written work. 

(a) Ordinary written work. 

(jb) Special written work to be corrected. 

1. The use of the scratch-book in marking anc 

the period for discussing errors. 

2. The use of a system of symbols in desig| 

nating and correcting errors. 

(a) This plan puts the responsibility oi 

discovering the exact error upoi 
the pupil. 

(b) It puts the burden of correcting th€ 

error upon the pupil. 

(c) It develops the power of critics 

examination and of self-help. 

(d) It strengthens the pupil at his weak^n 

est points, 
(c) Written class work. 

2. Advantages of written work. 

(a) Saves time. 

(b) Gives clearness to thought and exactness to ex- 

pression. 

(c) It trains in the art of study. 

(d) Dr. Roark quoted on the advantages of writtei 

work. 



PART III 

CHAPTER IV 

PLACE AND TACTICS OF THE 
RECITATION 



He that commands well shall be well obeyed. 

William of Newbury 

By nature some command and some obey, that all may enjoy 
safety. 

Aristotle 



Let there be a place for everything, and everything in its 
place. 

J. S. Denman 



Obedience is discipline's first duty. 

Loyola 



CHAPTER IV 
PLACE AND TACTICS OF THE RECITATION 

Order and system are nobler things than power. — Ruskin. 

Every recitation is either a victory or a defeat in the 
general campaign the teacher is carrying on against the 
ignorance or the lack of power in some particular sub- 
ject. To succeed in the campaign is far more important 
than to v^in an individual victory, and yet success is 
made up of the individual victories just as failure is made 
up of defeats. And as the wise general sweeps the field 
with a scrutinizing eye to discover the lines of least re- 
sistance and the avenues of easy conquest, so the prac- 
tical teacher will try to discover and utilize in the class- 
room the conditions that help to make individual victory 
easy and final success more certain. 

These conditions may be regarded as helpful rather 
than fundamental. They are not absolutely essential to 
victory, yet they aid greatly in securing it, and tend to 
make defeats more infrequent and failure less liable. 
These conditions may be discussed under the following 
heads : 

1 . The place of the recitation. 

2. The tactics of the recitation. 

3. Methods of calling upon individual pupils. 

I.— THE PLACE OF THE RECITATION. 

The place of the recitation seems of little importance, 
and is, therefore, often dismissed without much thought. 
While it is not vital, it is at least worthy of notice. 

In actual practice two plans prevail : 

1. The group or class plan. 

2. The scattered or seat plan. 

293 



294 THE RECITATION 

The first groups the pupils into a class in some part 
of the room, usually at the front. This is the plan that 
is generally used in rural schools. It prevails also in 
some graded schools. 

The second conducts the recitation with the pupils 
occupying their individual seats, except as each may be 
called upon to rise and recite. This plan is usually 
found in graded schools where the divisions are so large 
that it is difficult to find space for the class in some other 
part of the room. In some schools the pupils of a class 
occupy seats on one side of the room, in others they are 
scattered throughout it. Thus the space occupied by a 
class during a recitation may be all of the room, or that 
part of it occupied by a division while at work, or a still 
smaller section in some part of it. 

What, then, shall be the dominating principle that will 
help the teacher to decide which of these three places 
^j^g shall be selected ? We offer the following : 

dominating The Smaller the space occupied by the 
rmcip e. teachcr and the class the greater the influ- 
ence of the instruction, provided that the space is large 
enough to guarantee health and comfort to each. 

If this principle is true, then the recitation in which the 
pupils are seated in part of a room is preferable to the 
one in which they are seated throughout it. And the one 
that groups them into a small, compact body is pref- 
erable to either of the others. It has many advantages. 

(a) It is Favorable to Class Management. It brings 
every pupil within the influence of the teacher's eye, and 
enables him to note the attitude and the actions of each 
pupil with the least possible effort. 

The knowledge that "Thou God seest me" is the 
greatest restraining moral influence that affects human 



PLACE AND TACTICS OF THE RECITATION 295 

conduct. So the eye of the teacher is one of the great 
restraining influences of the school. Most of the 
troubles in school arise when the pupils are beyond the 
range of the teacher's eye. Good police regulations in 
a city are great restraining influences upon evil-doers. 
And the controlling and restraining influence of a teach- 
er's eye is like the presence of a vigilant officer to a 
man bent on mischief. The class grouped into a small 
area is much easier managed. 

The personality of the teacher is the strongest influ- 
ence in class management. But it is difficult to project 
personality thirty feet through mid-air to those reciting 
in the back seats. And personality, like a stream from a 
hose, is stronger when concentrated at close range than 
w^hen scattered and spread throughout a room. 

(6) It is Favorable to Class Interest and Sympa- 
thy, and therefore conducive to Class Attention. In- 
terest and sympathy are like heat. They warm all who 
are within reach, but they warm most those who are 
close to the centre from which the radiation comes. 

A small stove will warm a dozen persons if they gather 
around it. But the same number with the same stove 
will actually suffer from cold if scattered over a large 
hall. Five pupils will make a class, but they should be 
grouped into a small area with the teacher. The fires of 
interest will die out and the warm currents of sympathy 
freeze if they are scattered throughout a large audi- 
torium. Interest and sympathy are contagious, but only 
within certain limits. The strength of light decreases as 
the square of the distance increases. We do not know 
the exact law that governs interest and sympathy, but 
we do know that it is similar. 

The court takes advantage of this principle by putting 



296 THE RECITATION 

the jury in the jury-box, not only to safeguard the jurors 
from outside influences, but also that they may be in a 
close, compact body near the court, the witness, and the 
The Jury-box lawyers by whom the case is to be pre- 
plan, sented. And the jury-box plan appHed to 
the pupils in a recitation is always favorable to class in- 
terest, sympathy, and attention. A shot at a flock of 
partridges when they are scattered is not very effective ; 
the same shot may accomplish tenfold as much if the 
flock is bunched into a small space. 

(c) The Group Plan frees the Class frora those Seat 
Objects and Incidents that tend to lead the Mind 
away from the Point at Issue. 

Instruction without attention is impossible. Atten- 
tion is the closing up of the mind to all things save the 
one under consideration. When pupils occupy their in- 
dividual desks during a recitation, books, papers, slates, 
and pencils should be removed. Nothing should be left 
in sight that will compete with the lesson for the interest 
of the pupil, and thus side-track it and switch his atten- 
tion to something irrelevant. Even when all the objects 
are removed there are still so many things visible to the 
pupils scattered here and there over a room that the 
problem of instruction is rendered difficult because of 
the distracting influences that dissipate the interest and 
destroy the attention. The grouping of the class into a 
small area reduces these distracting and detracting influ- 
ences to a minimum. 

The management, interest, attention, and instruction 
of the pupils, as well as the personality of the teacher, 
all demand that class area be made as small as possible 
consistent with the health and comfort of the pupils. 

There may be some difficulties in the way, but many 



PLACE AND TACTICS OF THE RECITATION 297 

of them can be overcome. A large class of small chil- 
dren learning to read may be massed in a straight line or a 
semicircle, two or three rows deep, and all Good 
close to the chart or blackboard to be used. "t^^^Zr' 

overcomes 

If the pupils use books or papers in the reci- Difficulties. 
tation, the protection of the eye demands that their faces 
be turned away from the windows so the light will fall 
on the book from behind. The pupils in a large class 
in a graded school may be grouped into a compact body 
in the front seats on one side of a room. Indeed, the 
conditions that involve difficulties are many, but they 
yield in most cases to the teacher who recognizes that 
an important principle which helps to safeguard class in- 
struction is at stake. 

n.— TACTICS OF THE RECITATION. 

The tactics of the recitation is a system of signals and 
commands for the movement of pupils to and from class 
in a quiet, orderly manner, and for the regulation and 
direction of class work. Pupils are moved and work is 
directed in every school. The movement of a large 
number of pupils must be directed as a unit, or confu- 
sion, disorder, and waste of time are sure to follow. 
School regulations of some kind are therefore both de- 
sirable and necessary. 

The code should be simple, definite, direct, easily un- 
derstood, yet withal systematic. Such a code yaiueofa 
has many advantages. It saves time, avoids code of 
confusion, promotes order, stimulates interest, 
imparts vigor, cultivates promptness, encourages obedi- 
ence, strengthens the power of attention, and helps to lay 
the foundation of habits of system and order. 

Children have a natural impulse toward free, sponta- 



298 THE RECITATION 

neous, and self-directed action. But they have also an 
impulse toward rhythm in sound and motion, as seen 
in their songs, rhymes, and amusements. This impulse 
toward uniformity of sound and motion plays an im- 
portant part in the self-directed games of children. 
They love system and order, and naturally tend toward 
it. Nothing interests and pleases them more than a 
calisthenic drill or a motion song. This natural love 
and tendency, reinforced by the equally natural imitative 
powers of the child, make the mastery of a code of 
school tactics both easy and pleasant. And this mastery 
tends to strengthen their respect and admiration for the 
teacher. For as soldiers naturally admire the military 
tactician who can form, move, and mass his men with 
skill and precision, so children respect the ability of the 
teacher who can move and manage a school with system 
and order. 

The code of signals and commands should be uniform. 
The movements should be simple and necessary rather 
than artificial or ornamental. All commands should be 
short, direct, and easily understood, and the response to 
them prompt and decided. The will must act before 
the body can conform to the command. Hence such a 
system demands and cultivates alertness of mind, de- 
cisiveness of will, and promptness of action. It is a 
great source of discipline to the child, both mental and 
moral. It cultivates respect for law, adds positiveness 
to the temperament, gives decision of character, de- 
velops the virtue of obedience, and trains the habit of 
attention. And if sufficient time is allowed for the exe- 
cution of each command, and prompt obedience is re- 
quired, these results may be secured, time economized, 
and confusion avoided. 



PLACE AND TACTICS OF THE RECITATION 299 

1. Code for Calling' or Dismissing" Classes. In 
calling classes the following signals or commands may- 
be used : (a) ready, (6) rise, (c) march, (d) sit. 

When the system is understood by the pupils the nu- 
merals, one, two, three, and four may be substituted if 
desired. 

(a) Ready. At this command the pupils lay aside 
their work, take up the book or paper needed in the 
recitation, and assume a position ready for the next 
signal. If this is done promptly a moment of intense 
interest and silence follows, as all, in wide-awake ex- 
pectancy and attention, await the next command. 

(b) Rise. At this command all rise and face in the 
direction they are to move. Another moment of abso- 
lute silence follows as all attentively await the next 
signal. 

(c) March. At this command every pupil steps out, 
quietly but firmly, with the left foot. If the children are 
very small, greater relaxation of mind and muscle is 
secured by having them skip or run rather than march. 
And it is surprising that this may be done with little 
more confusion than marching. 

By either plan they pass to the place of recitation 
either at the board or in the seats. If the pupils are to 
stand, no further command is necessary. If, however, 
they are to occupy seats they will await, in silence, till 
the signal is given. 

(d) Sit. At this command all are quietly seated and, 
in the attitude of attention and alertness of mind, hold 
themselves ready to begin the work. 

2. Code for Class Work. In directing a class in 
blackboard work, the following may be used : (a) turn, 
(6) erase, (c) write, (d) face, (e) explain. 



300 THE RECITATION 

(a) Turn. The pupils must face the board, and at this 
command they promptly and quietly do so. 

(6) Erase. At this command the board is prepared 
for work. Pupils may number off by threes, fours, or 
fives, so that no two, side by side, may have the same 
work. After their numbers or names are written upon 
the board they face the teacher. 

(c) Write. At this command the persons to whom 
work is assigned turn and write the necessary condi- 
tions on the board. All others maintain their position 
until work is assigned. 

{d) Face. The teacher may want to impart some gen- 
eral instruction, point out some error, give some special 
drill, or root the attention of the class in thought upon 
some specific point. The time for closing the work or 
for some explanation may have arrived. So, at this 
command, all stop work and quietly, but promptly, face 
the teacher. 

(e) Explain. In case some part or phase of the pro- 
cess involved is to be examined critically, the teacher 
may call upon some one to explain. Instantly all face 
the work and fix the mind on it. The pupil with 
pointer in hand proceeds ; to encourage attention the 
work of explanation may be suddenly stopped, and an- 
other pupil asked to continue the explanation. 

As the purpose of all school government is the self- 
government of the pupils, so the aim of all school regula- 
tions is the self-direction of the individual. The freedom 
and self-control of the individual, however, must be in 
accord with the rights of others and the ethics of school 
management. And when these ends are attained it will 
not be necessary to follow the code rigidly. For as good 
school government gradually eliminates this necessity for 



PLACE AND TACTICS OF THE RECITATION 301 

its exercise, so your school regulations tend to produce 
the ideal conditions that render their use more and more 
unnecessary. And while some simple directions for the 
movement of classes will always be needed, the neces- 
sity for adhering to a systematic code will gradually be 
removed. 

3. Code for the use of Pupils. Thus far our code 
of tactics provides only for commands that issue from 
the teacher. But the pupil, as well as the teacher, has 
the power of initiative within certain Hmits, and conse- 
quently a system of tactics must provide signals through 
which he may express his willingness to take part, assent 
to, or dissent from any conclusions. This willingness is 
generally expressed through a movement of the hand. 
Many movements might be suggested, but for all prac- 
tical purposes the raising and the lowering of the hand 
are all that seem necessary. 

(a) Bailing the hand. Good pedagogy demands that 
all questions shall be directed to the class and that every 
member be held responsible for the answer. Raising 
the hand may indicate : 

1. A willingness to answer. 

2. A desire to correct, add to, or dissent from the 
answer given. 

(b) Lowering the hand. The hand is lowered : 

1. When a pupil has been designated to recite. 

2. When the answer given is satisfactory. 

The hand when raised should be kept still. Patience 
is a virtue. So is eagerness, but it should not become 
boisterous. Pupils should not be permitted to speak or 
to raise hands until the pupil reciting has ceased. The 
mind will be benefited by holding the criticism or sug- 
gestion till the proper time. 



302 THE RECITATION 

Snapping of fingers and gesticulating with the arms 
should not be tolerated. Pupils who do not voluntarily 
indicate a willingness to take part must be called upon. 
Unwillingness to participate in the recitation may be due 
to timidity or to lack of preparation, but in either case it 
must not be disregarded by the teacher. 

Physical culture demands that all pupils should be 
required to sit and stand erect, and to execute all bodily 
movements with grace and precision. When any one 
is speaking in the recitation the interests of courtesy and 
progress demand that all others observe absolute silence. 
Looking and listening are the attitudes of attention, and 
no teacher should try to teach or ask a pupil to recite 
without demanding them. We are aware that attention 
cannot be commanded or demanded, but its 

External ' 

Attitude of external attitude can. And it is the duty of 
the teacher to require it, for it is difficult for 
the pupil to assume and keep this external attitude for 
any length of time without giving also that fixedness of 
mind that is the very essence of attention. 

m.— METHODS OF DIRECTING QUESTIONS TO THE 
CLASS. 

As a rule, teachers ask and pupils answer questions. 
It is not improper, however, when prompted by the right 
motive, to reverse the order. Occasionally, too, pupils 
may be permitted to question each other. But these are 
the exceptions, for pupils are generally without that in- 
sight into matter and method which forms the basis of 
all skilful work in the art of questioning. And while the 
teacher generally is responsible for the manner in which 
the questions are directed to the class, he is equally re- 
sponsible for the way in which pupils answer. 



PLACE AND TACTICS OF THE RECITATION 303 

It is evident in the matter of asking questions that two 
avenues are open to the teacher. He may either direct 
the question to the individual who is to answer it or he 
may direct it to the class in general. The first may be 
called the individual and the second the general method. 

1. Individual method. This plan names the individual 
and then asks him a question ; or it may ask the indi- 
vidual to rise, and then direct a series of questions to 
him. 

This is an ideal plan when there is but one pupil in 
the class. But it is not conducive to interest and atten- 
tion in larger classes. When a pupil is named before 
the question is directed to him, the other pupils are 
likely to conclude that the question and the answer are 
individual matters, and therefore give little attention to 
either. The same is true when he is asked to rise and 
answer a series of questions. It is safe to conclude, 
then, that while this method is good for the individual 
who is answering, it is not the best suited to class in- 
struction. And yet some teachers with advanced pupils 
can so use it as to overcome these disadvantages. 

2. The general method. By this method the teacher 
states the question in a general way to the entire class, 
and then calls upon some individual to answer. 

While the teacher is asking the question each child 
naturally assumes that he may be the individual desig- 
nated to answer it. This demands alertness of mind 
from all, and, if the answer is short, each may respond 
to it mentally before the pupil is named who is to frame 
his answer in oral language. 

And the pupil who answers mentally, and is ready and 
eager to respond orally, is benefited only in a degree 
slightly less than the one who actually recites. 



304 THE RECITATION 

This method holds each pupil responsible for the 
question and for its answer. The teacher with a class 
Each Pupil of ten pupils who can make ten minds an- 
^sponsibie for ^^^^ ^^^ questiou Is ten times as valuable 
the Answer. as the oue who can make but one respond 
to it. It is evident, then, that this plan, under ordinary 
circumstances, is preferable to the other. For class 
progress depends not so much upon the individual who 
recites orally as upon what each member thinks while- one 
is speaking. Perhaps there is no better sign of a teach- 
er's incompetency than to see ten pupils marking time 
in a recitation while the one who is reciting marches 
forward. 

IV.— METHODS OP CALLING FOR ANSWERS. 

No discussion is needed to show that there are two 
and only two methods of calling for answers. Either the 
individual or the class as a whole is asked to answer. 
This gives us : 

1. The individual method. 

2. The concert method. 

1. The individual method. By this method the indi- 
vidual rises and calmly and deliberately tries to frame 
the best answer to the question he can. He strives to 
make the answer clear, concise, and definite, and from 
that effort comes strength of mind, clearness of thought, 
and accuracy and definiteness of expression. 

The same results come, though perhaps in a less de- 
gree, to every member of the class who critically follows 
the thought and expression of the individual answering. 

(a) The order of calling upon individuals may be con- 
secutive or promiscuous. The former asks the pupils to 
recite in consecutive order as they stand or sit in class. 

1. It saves time. 



PLACE AND TACTICS OF THE RECITATION 305 

2. It distributes worh evenly and none are omitted. But 
it is generally destructive to class interest and attention. 

3. It may not demand general preparation^ as pupils 
may prepare only what they expect to recite. 

(b) The promiscuous method calls upon an individual 
here and there to recite, as the teacher may desire or as 
conditions may suggest : 

1. It helps to sustain interest and hold attention by re- 
quiring all to be ready at any moment. 

2. It affords the teacher the opportunity to ash the ques- 
tion needed by the individual and to gauge it to his partic- 
ular requirements. But it requires more time than the 
consecutive method, and may not distribute the work as 
equitably. 

2. The concert method. By this method all the mem- 
bers of the class, or as many as desire, answer the ques- 
tion simultaneously. If the answer is short and defi- 
nite, all may give it in a few words, otherwise the concert 
answer is noisy, boisterous, and confusing. 

This method has little to recommend it, and yet it may 
be used to advantage in certain kinds of work. Take, 
for example, word-recognition in a primary class involv- 
ing spelling and pronunciation. All may look at the 
word for a moment silently, try to make it out, and then 
pronounce it in concert. Or, if further examples are 
needed, notice its usefulness in oral number drill in any 
of the fundamental operations ; six, plus four, less three, 
are how many ? If the problem is presented at a rate 
suited to the mental grasp of the class, each pupil makes 
the calculation silently, and at a signal from the teacher all 
answer in concert. It is evident that these drills may be 
so timed that only the quick minds may be ready to an- 
swer. This helps and encourages the few to the disad- 



306 THE RECITATION 

vantage of the many. But they may be timed for the 
many, too, and the quick minds required to keep back 
the answer until the slower ones are ready. This 
method is not to be recommended generally, and yet 
there are many occasions when the skilful teacher can 
use it to advantage. 

(a) Among the limited advantages of this method the 
following may be stated : 

1. It encourages the timid pupil to take part. 

2. It helps in a formal way to train memory, 

3. It helps to arouse enthusiasm. 

4. It aids the bright pupils who lead in the work. 

But it is likely to discourage study in all except the 
leaders. 

(6) Disadvantages. 

1. It fails to test individual preparation^ power ^ or skill. 

2. It is noisy and boisterous. 

3. It trains a few to be leaders and the many to be fol- 
lowers. 

4. It gives little help. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

PLACE AND TACTICS OF THE RECITATION 

I. — Place. 

1. The group plan or class plan. 

2. The scattered or seat plan. The former has some ad- 

vantages : 

(a) It is favorable to class management. 

(b) It is favorable to class interest. 

(c) It is favorable to class attention. 

II. — Class Tactics. 

1. Code for calling classes. 

(a) ready, (6) rise, (c) march, (d) sit. 

2. Code for class work. 

(a) turn, (6) erase, (c) write, (d) face, (e) explain. 



PLACE AND TACTICS OF THE RECITATION 307 

3. Code for use of pupils. 

(a) Raising hand. 

1. Denotes willingness to take part. 

2. Denotes a desire to correct, add to, or to 

dissent from answer. 

(b) Lowering hand. 

1. When some pupil has been designated to 

recite. 

2. When the answer is satisfactory. 

IIL — Methods of directing Questions to the Class. 

1. The individual method. 

2. The general method. 

IV. — Method of Calling for Answers. 

1. Individual. 

(a) Consecutive. 

1. Saves time. 

2. Distributes work equitably. 

3. Destructive of class interest. 

4. May not encourage preparation. 

(b) Promiscuous. 

1. Promotes class interest. 

2. Adjusts question to suit the pupil. 

2. Concert. 

(a) Advantages. 

1. Encourages timid pupils to take part. 

2. Aids slightly in training memory. 

3. Arouses enthusiasm. 

4. Trains a few leaders. 

(b) Disadvantages. 

1. Fails to test individual preparation, power, 

or skill. 

2. It is noisy and boisterous. 

3. Trains a few to be leaders and many to 

be followers. 

4. Renders little aid to the dull child. 
6. May discourage study. 



PART III 

CHAPTER V 

THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 



A book that remains shut is but a block. 

Selected 



No book is so bad but that something may be learned from it. 

Pliny 



CHAPTER V 

THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 

Books are the best things well used ; abused, among the worst. — 
R. W. Emerson. 

The school and all it contains is only a means to an 
end. This end is the moral and intellectual develop- 
ment of the child. And the value of any part of the 
means is determined by what it contributes directly or 
indirectly to that end. 

Among the many means employed in the school, text- 
books occupy an important place, and the aid they 
render in reaching the desired end is determined by their 
quality and the use made of them. It is not our pur- 
pose to discuss the use of text-books in general, but 
merely to point out certain places in the school work 
where they may be used to better advantage. 

Whatever opinions may be held concerning the use of 
school books, it must be admitted that their quality has 
been greatly improved in recent years. In pedagogical 
plan, in the grade and arrangement of subject matter, 
and in general attractiveness, they far surpass those of 
former years. 

This improvement is especially noticeable in the books 
prepared for the lower grades of the elementary school. 
The whole field of elementary work has been most care- 
fully surveyed. The hnes of approach to each study 
have been marked out, and the whole subject matter 
graded and arranged so as to lead the child along the 
hnes of least resistance to a complete grasp of the sub- 

311 



312 THE RECITATION 

ject. And upon the whole much light has been thrown 
upon this department of school work which was once so 
vague and shadowy. 

I.— IN TEACHING ELEMENTARY ARITHMETIO. 

This is especially true in the domain of elementary 
arithmetic. Authors have examined that field from 
every view-point, and each has presented what seemed 
to him a sane and sensible treatment of the subject, 
based upon the principles of modern pedagogy. This 
has given us a variety of books differing greatly both in 
matter and arrangement. We have the Grube, the spiral, 
the topic, and the grade plans, each claiming preference 
because of some special feature. 

These books were made to be used. Their intended 
use may not always be clear to the teacher, but in the 
mind of the individuals who prepared them, the use and 
the purpose of the book not only determined its scope 
and plan, but actually graded and arranged its subject 
matter. 

We do not care to enter upon a discussion of the 
merits of these various plans. That would lead us too 
far from our course and into the domains of pedagogical 
and mathematical discussion. But rather would we 
point out some of the results that come from the non- 
use of the elementary text-books and some of those 
that would follow its proper use. This subject, then, 
may be considered under two heads : 

1. The non-use of the text-book. 

2. The use of the text-book. 

1. The Non-use of the Text-book. It is somewhat 
surprising that the text-books in elementary arithmetic, 
prepared with so much care and purchased at such cost 



THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 313 

out of the public funds, are seldom used by either 
teacher or pupil. From the time the child enters 
school until he is able to use a text, the teacher or- 
dinarily discards the book and proceeds to teach the 
subject according to his own peculiar notions and im- 
provised plans. These plans, or rather absence of plans, 
consist in writing on the board each day a few discon- 
nected and hastily prepared problems for the child to 
solve. This furnishes his seat work in number. In the 
recitation he is asked to solve some of them over again, 
or such others as the teacher may hastily improvise. 
Occasionally he is given an oral drill that has neither 
plan nor system, and that has no relation whatever to 
the written work. Day after day, and sometimes year 
after year, this hap-hazard, hit-or-miss, crazy-quilt work 
proceeds. 

The teacher who does this practically assumes that, 
without previous thought, he can improvise a better plan, 
suggest better subject matter, and guess out Absurdity of 
a better graded list of problems in the midst improvised 
of the worry and care incident to the school- 
room than an author can prepare in the quiet of his 
study. Such an assumption is absurd, and this method 
of procedure has scarcely a redeeming feature. 

(a) It is unsystematic. It has no plan, no beginning, 
no development, no course, no aim, no end. It is a sort 
of blind-man's-buff arrangement that presents to the 
class, from day to day, the disconnected and unrelated 
problems the teacher may happen to suggest when the 
class is to be taught. It lacks arrangement, grade, and 
order, and is as unsatisfactory as it is unsystematic. 

(6) The work is limited generally to abstract problems. 
What it teaches, therefore, is a little abstract number, 



314 THE RECITATION 

not arithmetic. By it children finally learn to perform 
the fundamental operations, but they cannot apply them 
to the solution of problems that require thought. 

The reason for such a condition is readily found. It 
is so easy to write abstract problems on the board, and 
requires so much time and labor to improvise and write 
out concrete ones, that the latter are seldom used. 

Abstract problems give skill, — that is, ability to calcu- 
late ; concrete examples give not only skill, but also 
mathematical power, — that is, the power to apply the prin- 
ciples of arithmetic to practical purposes. The former 
makes the child a good accountant, but not a good 
mathematician ; the latter makes him both. The one 
trains him to calculate, the other to calculate and to think. 

(c) The little concrete work given is characterized by same- 
ness. It lacks grade, variety, and completeness. It could 
not be otherwise under such improvised plans. In 
grading and arranging the subject matter of the text an 
author uses many concrete problems of many different 
kinds, each introduced at the right place to develop the 
general plan. The teacher who discards the book may 
not think of a dozen different kinds. His mind is likely 
to run in certain channels and to suggest only a few 
types. 

The pupils become strong in their ability to solve 
problems belonging to the types found in the particular 
mathematical ruts in which the teacher's mind runs, but 
the general field of concrete work is almost untouched, 
and the ability to think out the solution of a problem of 
a new type is wanting. This may not be the root of all 
evils in the teaching of arithmetic in the elementary 
school, but it is the root of some of them. 

\d) This work does not prepare the child for the use of the 



THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 315 

text-book. When the pupils have wasted much time and 
effort in learning to perform the fundamental operations 
by this improvised plan, they are at last given a text- 
book ; but they have no power to use it, and, although 
they have been studying number for four or perhaps 
five years, they must start with the first lesson in the 
book. In schools where this absence of plan prevails 
children are often found doing fourth-grade work in 
abstract number and first-grade arithmetic in concrete 
work. 

The non-use of a text in elementary arithmetic is espe- 
cially detrimental to the mathematical interests of the 
children in the rural schools. These schools ^^ ^^ 

The Non-use 

experience a change in teachers almost an- of a Text in 
nually. And if the text-book is not used as 
a guide to the work the teacher can have no definite 
knowledge of the aims and plans of his predecessor and 
of the scope and character of the work done by him. 
As a result, the work covering a period of years is unre- 
lated and fragmentary and without that controlling aim 
that unifies and systematizes it. 

Even in the graded school of a town or city the same 
detached work is likely to follow the non-use of the text. 
Close supervision, according to a course of study, may 
tend to minimize these unsatisfactory conditions, but it 
requires so much time and effort to direct this work 
that they are likely to appear in the presence of the best 
supervision. Indeed, in the absence of suitable texts, it 
would require almost the entire time of a principal in a 
school of a score of rooms to organize, systematize, and 
supervise this work. 

2. The use of the Text. But the text-book offers 
a different plan. It may not be the best, but it is at 



316 THE RECITATION 

least a plan, and, although it may be defective, it is cer- 
tainly far superior to the patched-up guesswork of the 
ordinary teacher. The proper use of the text-book in 
this work is most helpful. 

(a) Tlie text-book grades the work. It puts the right 
problem in the right place. What to teach next, and 
how difficult to grade the work, are questions which lie 
beyond the grasp of the average teacher. They belong 
to a higher realm of thought than that of the class-room. 
It is unreasonable to expect the ordinary teacher to an- 
swer them. The author may not have worked out the 
most satisfactory answers to them, but they are better 
than he could improvise in the presence of his class. 

Every text-book answers these two questions. It not 
only designates the next step, but also grades the subject 
matter to suit it. 

The text aims to grade the subject matter and to 
designate the kind and to some extent the quantity of it 
needed. It supplies both abstract and concrete work in 
the proportions seemingly necessary to give to the child 
both skill and mathematical power. Every author has 
some end in view. He knows that certain steps must 
be taken in order to attain the end. He, therefore, 
plans his work and grades and arranges the subject 
matter according to the requirements of the plan. He 
not only supplies suitable varieties of concrete work, but 
strives also to grade them to meet the exact needs of the 
expanding intellect of the child. 

(6) The text-book gives unity to the work. The work of 
to-day must be unified with that of yesterday, and both 
with that of to-morrow. Lesson must be linked to 
lesson in the chain of instruction. A number of de- 
tached and unrelated problems is not enough. There 



THE USE OF BOOKS IX THE RECTTATIOX 317 

must be a systematic plan, a controlling aim, a natural 
development. These are the underlying principles that 
give scope, character, and unity to a text- supplementing 
book. Every problem is a part of a re- ^^® ^^^^• 
lated whole, and is, therefore, necessary to the complete- 
ness of the work. Something may be added, but unity 
and completeness demand that nothing shall be omitted. 
Thus the text-book tends to unify the work and to give 
to it completeness and proportion. 

In the use of the text-book the teacher should present 
the first lesson, then the second, then the third, and each 
consecutive lesson in the order given. He may supple- 
ment the work at any point, but unity demands that no 
lesson, no step, and no part of the work should be 
omitted. Thus the child moves forward in accordance 
with the plan of the work until he is able to use the text. 

During this period the child must have both seat and 
recitation work. And if he is too young to use the book 
the problems written on the board for seat work should 
be taken from the text of the lesson under considera- 
tion, or they should be similar to them. The oral drills 
and the additional problems given, should supplement 
the plan of the book rather than to deviate from it. The 
whole purpose of the teacher should be to develop the 
child's mathematical power as designed in the plan 
and purpose of the book, and not according to his own 
peculiar notions. The plan maybe defective, 
but a poor plan is better than no plan. slavery to 

To throw aside the book is regarded by some po^aStv-^ 
teachers as an evidence of wisdom and strength. 
They reject its use as slavery to text-book formality. 
This notion is scarcely true. There is no more slavery 
in it than in following the texts in reading, geography, 



318 THE RECITATION 

history, or any other study. Every book arranges a series 
of lessons or exercises along which the child is to be led 
to the mastery of a subject and designates at each point 
what shall come next. It is like a stairway up which the 
child must walk. Each step is visible from the one below 
it, and the easiest approach to the next step is from the 
one on which he stands. The main purpose of a text- 
book is to point out the next step and to make the ascent 
to it easy and natural, and there can be no slavery in ac- 
cepting this aid so necessary and which can scarcely be 
expected from any other source. The liberty of the 
teacher consists, not in rejecting the text, but in pre- 
senting its lessons in his own way. 

n.— IN TEACHING ELEMENTARY LANGUAGE. 

What has been said concerning the use of the text in 
elementary arithmetic applies with equal force to work in 
elementary language. The oral lessons that prepare the 
child for the use of the text should be organized and 
systematized according to some plan, possibly the one 
which the child is to use when the book is put into his 
hand. Improvised plans and unrelated lessons are not 
to be permitted in language any more than in arithmetic. 
Aim, grade, order, and plan are just as important in this 
work as in any other. 

It is scarcely necessary to extend this discussion to 
other subjects, since the text-books in all, save elemen- 
tary language and arithmetic, are usually followed. 

m.— IN TEACHING ADVANCED ARITHMETIC. 

The advanced texts are ordinarily prepared according 
to the topic plan, and as a rule they are followed. Our 
desire, then, is not to discuss the use or the non-use of 



THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 319 

the book, but rather its abuse at certain places, and to 
present a few thoughts on this subject that seem practical 
and may prove helpful and suggestive. 

1. Rules and Processes. In elementary work pro- 
cesses always precede rules. This is generally the best 
order also in advanced grades. The first lesson in the 
study of a particular subject should be directed toward 
the mastery of the process. Problems are stated, ex- 
amined, and solved, not to get the answer, but to reveal 
the process step by step. When the process is fairly 
well understood, it is well to turn to the rule ^^^^^^ clarify 
and try to comprehend it by and through and fix the 
the process. The one is thus made to knowing the 
verify, clarify, and fix the other. The aim Process. 

is not only to know the rule, but to understand it through 
the process. 

The mastery of the process is of first importance. It 
is the grasp of it that will remain and enable the child to 
formulate the rule when needed. A rule is simply a 
sign-board to direct the pupil in his work. It is a state- 
ment of the necessary steps in a process in their con- 
secutive order, and the pupil who knows these steps can 
make his own rules. 

The mastery of processes is the pivot upon which 
much of the teaching of arithmetic turns. If this part 
of the work is well done there will be little trouble with 
the problems that follow. 

2. Text-books in the Class. The best work will 
be done in higher grades by prohibiting the use of text- 
books in the recitation. Many teachers permit the use 
of books and assign by number, for class recitation, 
the same problems the pupils have already solved. 
This plan may be helpful when the teacher expects to 



320 THE RECITATION 

emphasize some phase of the work probably overlooked 
by the pupils, or when it is necessary to have some 
problem re-solved by a bright pupil for the benefit of 
those who failed in its solution, but the use of books in 
class is not productive of the best results, and should 
not be permitted except as necessity demands. 

Such a plan makes the pupil a slave to rules rather 
than a master of processes. The book is a crutch upon 
which he leans. It gives him rules, principles, tables, 
and answers, and without them he is helpless. A class 
thus taught seldom knows half the tables of weights and 
measures used in every-day practice. The pupils are 
weak and dependent upon the book rather than strong 
and independent in mathematical thought and action. 

The use of the book in class makes the pupil de- 
pendent upon the eye, but fails to develop a quick grasp 
of conditions through the ear. Both eye and ear must 
be trained. The preparation of the lesson 

Eye-nunded ^ ^ 

and from the book trains the former, and the 

Ear-minded rgcitation should not neglect the latter. Some 

People. ® 

people seem to be eye-minded. They can- 
not understand conditions until they are presented 
through the eye by words, diagrams, or drawings. Their 
ear seemingly has been neglected. Their mind is not alert 
and quick to grasp conditions presented through the ear. 
To read a problem to a child and expect him to get and 
hold its conditions is of vital importance in training the 
mind through the ear. It demands a quick mental adjust- 
ment and an intense concentration upon passing words. 
The camera, when properly focused and adjusted, catches 
instantly and holds firmly the exact image of the thing 
presented ; so alertness and adjustment of mind through 
the ear gives exactness and tenacity to memory. 



THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 321 

The power to grasp conditions quickly through the 
ear is most serviceable. A sermon or a lecture is de- 
livered but once ; if you do not catch it the loss is yours. 
The office boy without this power must be told the same 
thing again and again before he knows it. Children in 
school fail to understand announcements and assignment 
of lessons, not because they were not made, but because 
they failed to catch them. And arithmetic thus taught, 
trains the mind to adjust itself quickly and to grasp and 
retain firmly what it hears. 

The use of the text-books in the recitation makes care- 
less, indifferent ears, and careless ears make dull minds, 
to which a fact must be repeated again and again ; and 
dull minds make little progress. Read or state the 
problem clearly to the pupil. At first it may be neces- 
sary to repeat it, but ere long the mind will so adjust 
itself through the ear that the conditions are grasped 
when once stated. Such a plan will produce better 
mathematicians, more independent in thought and ac- 
tion ; it will develop alertness of mind and quick grasp 
of conditions through the ear, and make the memory 
more exact and tenacious. 

3. Problems used in Class. The problems solved 
in the preparation of a lesson should not, as a rule, 
be used in the recitation. This does not apply when 
pupils have failed in their attempts to solve certain prob- 
lems or when some complex feature in a problem is to 
be examined by the class. But upon the whole the 
problem material of the recitation should be use New 
new, similar to that found in the lesson or in Problems m 
some former lesson, yet differing in some 
slight detail, and crisp and fresh with the novelty of new- 
ness. These problems may be original — coined by the 



322 THE RECITATION 

teacher as occasion demands — or they may be taken from 
the corresponding parts of some other text which the 
child has not seen. 

Generally speaking the recitation is for instruction and 
drill. But it also affords an opportunity for the child to 
learn by self-effort without the aid of instruction, and 
this is as important as the occasion for instruction and 
drill. 

In the work of instruction a new problem is just as 
good as an old one, if not better, while it has the added 
advantage of newness to arouse the interest and hold 
the attention. New things are always full of interest 
to the child, and the deeper the interest the more favor- 
able the opportunity for instruction. Thus new problems 
are more desirable for the work of instruction than old 
ones. 

For the same reason new problem material in drill 
work is preferable to that which is old. Drill is intended 
to give skill or to deepen impression. And problems 
once solved by the pupils have lost part of their value 
for that purpose. 

The opportunity to learn is greater with new problem 
material than with that once examined. This may not 
be true with advanced students in the quiet of their 
study, where concentration of mind and intellect pene- 
trates beyond the depths of former efforts, but it is true 
Thinking out a '^^ ^hc average class recitation. Thinking 
New Problem is the proccss by which the mind acquires 
rem^embering ^^ Icams with or without the aid of the 
an Old One. teachcr ; and in solving over again in the 
class the problem solved in the seat the mind is likely 
to remember what it did, rather than to think out the 
steps by which the end was reached. In a problem en- 



THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 323 

tirely new the child is required to think his way through it. 
Thus new problems in the recitation afford the child 
the best opportunity to learn and the teacher the best 
occasion for instruction and drill. Through interest they 
make the mind more impressionable, more retentive, and 
more facile, responsive, and skilful in action. 

4. The Treatment of Probleras in the Recitation. 
Every problem contributes something to the mind that 
tries to grasp and solve it. The extent of the contribu- 
tion is determined by the treatment which the problem 
receives by the child under the direction of the teacher. 

Some teachers simply assign problems and have them 
solved without question, comment, suggestion, or ex- 
planation ; under such conditions the recitation is almost 
a failure, and the results that come to the child for his 
work are little beyond what came from study. 

In order to give the highest and best reward for the 
effort, problems should be clearly grasped, correctly 
solved, and critically examined and explained. 

(a) To grasp and understand a problem is the first step. 
As it is stated, the pupil catches the facts and writes on 
the board enough of them to aid the mind in keeping 
before it a clear statement of the conditions. The first 
stage in this step is to see the conditions. The second 
is to understand them, — that is, to interpret them fully 
through what the mind already knows of the processes 
involved in them. This second stage is vital. It is at 
this point that the mind does its best thinking. The 
conditions are examined and analyzed. The seeing the 
mind, through inductive and deductive rea- conditions. 
soning, reaches the right conclusion, and the pupil sees 
clearly, not only the problem, but also how to solve it. 
Every problem is a key to its own solution just as soon 



324 THE RECITATION 

as the student understands its conditions through a 
knowledge of the processes involved in its solution. 

(b) The second step is to work out in neat and accurate 
form the solution. Accuracy and neatness are virtues in 
other fields than mathematics, and children should be 
trained into those habits by demanding them in the so- 
lution of every problem. Calculation must be exact, 
statement clear and definite, and the consecutive parts 
of the work presented according to the demands of 
analysis and logic. 

The first step must always precede the second. The 
knowledge that guides must always go before the effort 
that executes. The mind must always go in advance of 
the hand. 

Occasionally the operation of these steps, in separate 
periods of time, is very marked. The pupil sometimes 
actually pauses in external work in an effort to know 
what to do. It is useless to proceed at random or by 
guess, and the hand ceases its labors while the mind 
tries to discover the light that is to guide it aright. On 
such occasions it is not difficult to see that the first step 
precedes the second. 

But sometimes the period between them is so short 
that they seem to be almost simultaneous. A clear 
grasp of conditions and a definite knowledge of what 
to do may flash across the mind instantly, when it dis- 
covers in a moment what will require minutes to exe- 
consecutive cutc. But whether these periods seem con- 
steps, secutive or simultaneous, it is evident that 
the mental effort that guides must always precede the 
mechanical one that executes. 

(c) The final step in the treatment of a problem is its 
critical explanation as found in the solution. Here, as in 



THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 325 

the examination of written work, the burden of criticism 
must be put upon the class, the teacher merely adding 
what the pupils overlook. This is the teacher's oppor- 
tunity to give needed instruction and to train the child 
in correct habits of thought and expression. If the 
teacher is ever to aid the child in developing a clear, 
analytic, logical mind, strong in inductive and deductive 
thought, this is one of the important points at which 
such aid must be given. 

5. What to do with the Unsolved Problems. If 
a child is given a clear and definite knowledge of the 
process and principles he will be able to solve most of 
the problems. But occasionally with the average stu- 
dent, and frequently with the dull ones, there are prob- 
lems beyond their capacity to solve. What to do under 
such conditions is a question as practical as it is im- 
portant. To this question three answers may be given. 

(a) The teacher may solve the problem for the child or 
have some pupils do so. If in addition to this such 
instruction is given as will enable the learner to compre- 
hend it, some good will result from such aid. But 
to solve the problem is of Httle service unless the pupil 
will himself try to understand its conditions in the light 
of the solution. 

(6) The teacher may tell the pupil how to solve the prob- 
lem. This, too, is of little value to the child. And if 
this is all that is done it is scarcely worth the time it 
takes. But if the teacher explains the steps taken in the 
process of solution, so that the child fully understands 
them, this aid may be made most serviceable. 

(c) The teacher may lead the child to understand the con- 
ditions of the problem and the processes involved until the 
learner discovers for himself how to solve it. This is the 



326 THE RECITATION 

best aid the teacher can render. Indeed, it may gener- 
ally be regarded as unwise either to solve the problem 
or to tell how it should be done. 

Every problem fully comprehended suggests its own 
solution. The point of attack for the teacher, then, is 

the conditions of the problem, not its solu- 
comprehended tiou. Examine them and the principles and 
suggest their ppocesscs by wMch the problem is to be 

solved. As soon as the learner fully under- 
stands them, the light dawns from within and he dis- 
covers what to do. The key to the situation at this 
point is not what you do for the child or what you tell 
him to do, but his own thought. The source of his 
power is within. And the moment he interprets mathe- 
matically the conditions of the problem with what he 
knows of the process and the principles involved the 
difficulty will disappear. 

To solve a problem for the child, to tell him how to 
solve it, and do nothing more, gives little strength of 
mind, suppresses the spirit of self-helpfulness, and tends 
to make him a timid mathematical weakling, utterly de- 
pendent upon others, and always wiUing to follow be- 
cause he is unable to lead. But to throw light on the 
conditions of a problem, and on the principles and pro- 
cesses involved, gives that strength of mind that comes 
from vigorous thought and concentrated effort; that 
satisfaction and encouragement which spring from dis- 
covery ; and that calm confidence and self-reliance which 
come from tested strength and final victory. As long as 
a child clings to a chair in learning to walk he will de- 
velop little strength and steadiness of limb. These come 
in the largest measure from self-directed efforts to stand 
and walk without external aids. So in mathematics the 



THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 327 

best results come, not from seeing what others can do 
or from being told what to do, but rather from indi- 
vidual discovery and self-directed mental ^^ ^ ^ 

•^ The Teacher 

effort. It is the teacher's province to ex- may suggest, 
plain conditions, principles, and processes ; an^ acmIvS' 
but discovery and achievement belong to the ment belong to 
child, and to take from him the joy of the 
former and the strength and self-reliance that come from 
the latter is mental robbery, 

IV.— EST TEACHING ELEMBNTABY HISTORY OR 
GEOGRAPHY. 

The fourth, fifth, and sixth grades are critical periods 
in the child's school Hfe. In the three years preceding 
them he has learned to read, to write, and to spell ; he 
has laid the foundation for his work in language and 
number; and by oral instruction has acquired some 
knowledge of elementary geography through the obser- 
vation of his environment, and of history through story 
and biography. 

In these grades he is to face a new problem. He has 
learned to read, and he is now to read to learn. The 
elementary texts in geography and history are given to 
him to be studied. His ability to read is to be the me- 
dium through which he is to acquire knowledge in these 
and other fields and by which he is to train himself in 
the art of study. Up to this point he has been acquiring 
the tools with which he is to work ; now he is to begin to 
use them, and the problem is how may this be done in 
order to become skilful in their use, and at the same 
time make them sharper, stronger, and better instru- 
ments of service. 

Two methods ot procedure are open to the teacher at 



328 THE RECITATION 

this point, and the one adopted will determine to some 
extent the progress of the child in the study and in the 
art of study, as well as the extent of his likes or dislikes 
for both. The first of these may be called the irrational 
and the second the rational method. 

1. The Irrational Method. By this method the 
child, without aid, suggestion, or direction, prepares the 
lesson from the text as best he can, and the teacher, in- 
stead of trying to teach in the recitation, simply ex- 
amines him. The child gets little from the book, and 
the teacher gets even less from him. And since an ex- 
amination trains the child to give rather than to get, the 
periods of preparation and recitation are largely wasted, 
first, because the child has not acquired a knowledge of 
the lesson, and second, because he has not increased his 
power to study. This method of procedure invites 
failure since the child does not know how to study and 
the teacher fails to teach. 

The results of such methods are as apparent as they 
are unsatisfactory. 

(a) Wasted time and wasted effort. 

(b) Little progress in the subject or in the art of study. 

(c) Dislike for the subject and for the art of study. 

(d) Discouragement and all its attendant evils to both 
teacher and pupil. 

2. The Rational Method. Under this method the 
teacher is careful to prepare the way for text-book work 
by suitable oral instruction, and to assign the lessons in 
such a way as to aid the child in their preparation. He 
is just as careful to see that the major part of the recita- 
tion is given to actual instruction rather than examina- 
tion. Indeed, many of the recitations are study periods 
in which the teacher studies the lesson with the class. 



THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 329 

Such periods differ but slightly from the teaching part of 
the recitation. Both aim to have the child see and un- 
derstand the subject matter, but in addition to this the 
study period aims also to train the child in the art 
of study. 

The following paragraph from one of the elementary 
histories with the questions, answers, suggestions, and 
comments will serve to illustrate just what we mean 
when we speak of trying to train pupils in the art of 
study by studying the lesson with them either in or out 
of the recitation : 

"The Beginnings of Negro Slavery (1619). — The year 1619 is 
one of the most famous in the annals of Virginia. Then it was 
that a Dutch vessel landed at Jamestown and sold twenty negroes 
to the planters. At this time slavery existed in all the nations of 
the world, and found its way into all the English colonies. In 
Virginia the soil, climate, and chief occupations especially fa- 
vored it." 

The pupils with text-books in hand are brought for- 
ward to the place of the recitation. In- studying a 
stead of examining them, the time of recita- Lesson with a 
tion is devoted to studying the lesson under ^^' 
the direction of the teacher. By way of introduction and 
to prepare the minds for what is to follow, the teacher 
reviews briefly the history of the colony. He inquires 
about its settlement, its location, the nature of its cli- 
mate, the quality of its soil, the character of its people^ 
and any other knowledge that will lead directly to the 
lesson under consideration. This is preparation, — the 
first step in the recitation, the purpose of which is to get 
the mind ready for the work of presentation. 

The pupils now open their texts and under the teacher's 
direction examine the paragraph before them. The first 



330 THE RECITATION 

thing is to lead all to understand, through the use of dic- 
tionary, discussion, or illustration, the meaning of the 
terms " slavery," " famous," and " annals." The re- 
maining words in the text are probably within their com- 
prehension. Then comes the formal study of the text, 
directed by such questions as the following : What is 
the title of this paragraph ? In what colony did slavery 
begin ? How did the negroes get to Jamestown ? What 
was done with them after their arrival ? Why did the 
planters purchase them ? What was the condition of 
the world at that time with reference to slavery ? What 
conditions in Virginia favored slavery ? Who should be 
held responsible for the introduction of slavery into the 
colony? What do you think of the part played by 
the Dutch in this matter? By the planters? By the 
negroes ? 

As each question is asked the pupils run their eyes 
over the paragraph to find the answer. The tactics used 
are the same as in the recitation. When the pupils dis- 
cover a satisfactory answer to one question another is 
asked. 

The purpose of these questions is not so much to fix 
truth or to arouse profound thought, — the pupils are 
scarcely ready for this, — but rather to direct them through 
the ear to discover through the eye the leading points in 
the paragraph. Thus the entire lesson, topic by topic, is 
studied. 

This sensible method of procedure has some advan- 
tages worth noticing. 

(a) It removes as far as possible all causes for discour- 
agement by training the child to help himself And, as 
Horace Mann once said, " The teacher helps his pupils 
most who helps them to help themselves." 



THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 331 

(6) It is likely to develop in the child a love for the study 
pursued and for the art of study. Both of these results 
are most desirable. The child who finds pleasure in the 
art of study and in the knowledge that lies in some par- 
ticular field has, through self-improvement, the keys of 
culture already in his hand. The love of history, for in- 
stance, is more valuable to the child than all the knowl- 
edge of it he can ever acquire in the school. The 
treasure in this domain is so abundant and so rich, and 
the few facts presented in school are so meagre, that the 
love that will lead the child to survey this in after life 
and make part of it his own is a leading object of its 
study. A single chapter in the school his- opening the 
tory about Columbus may open the gateway Gateways, 
to the great field where thirteen thousand volumes on 
the life and work of the great discoverer may be found 
to enrich the mind and gratify the cravings of the history- 
loving student. The love of truth and the love of study 
are at once the basis of student habits and the founda- 
tion of great scholarship. 

(c) It trains in the art of study. This is the great con- 
tribution of this rational method. Every child's first 
attempt at study is to memorize the lesson. To him 
knowledge is a thing of words, not thought ; of the 
memory, not of the mind. Unaided, children pursue 
this phantom for years before they discover Training the 
their mistake and acquire any particular pro- ^upii to study, 
ficiency in the art. By this method, guided by a skilful 
teacher, they soon discover that to study is to see and 
understand the leading points, to grasp the vital thought 
in the text, and not to memorize the words. 

In first taking up the texts in elementary history and 
geography four such lessons are not too many each week. 



332 THE RECITATION 

Thus to study the lessons with the class four times each 
week, and on Friday review the subject matter of them 
with the books closed, is an excellent plan. And the 
aim should be not so much to give the pupils an ex- 
tensive knowledge of the facts, but rather to lead them 
to love the subject and to train them to husk thought 
from the printed page. 

TOPICAL OUTLINE 

THE USE OF TEXT-BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 

I. — In Teaching Elementary Arithmetic. 

1. The non-use of the text-book. 

(a) It is unsystematic. 

(b) It teaches generally only abstract number. 

(c) Its concrete work is characterized by sameness . 

(d) It does not prepare for use of text-book. 

2. The use of the text-book. 

(a) It grades the work. 

(b) It gives unity, system, variety, and complete- 

ness to the work. 

II. — In Teaching Elementary Language. 
Follow a plan similar to that suggested in elementary arith- 
metic. 

III. — In Teaching Advanced Arithmetic. 

1. Processes before rules. 

2. Text-book in class. 

3. Problems used in class. 

4. The treatment of problems in the recitation. 

(a) Understand the conditions. 

(b) Solve the problem. 

(c) Explain the problem. 

6. What to do with unsolved problems. 
(a) The teacher may solve them. 



THE USE OF BOOKS IN THE RECITATION 333 

(b) The teacher may tell the child how to solve 

them. 

(c) The teacher may lead the child to grasp the 

conditions and to discover the solution. 

IV. — In Teaching Elementary History or Geography. 

1. The irrational method. 

(a) It wastes time and effort. 

(b) It gives little progress in the subject or in the art 

of study. 

(c) It gives dislike for the subject and for the art of 

study. 

(d) It brings discouragement to teacher and pupil. 

2. The rational method. 

(a) It removes discouragement. 

{b) It develops love for the subject studied and for 

the art of study. 
(c) It trains in the art of study. 



PART III 

CHAPTER VI 
ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 



Literature is the tongue of the world. 
Words are the wings of action. 

Levanter 



When men think clearly and are interested, they express 
themselves with perspicuity and force. 

F. W. Robertson 



Grammarians are the guardians, not the authors of language. 

Seneca 



CHAPTER VI 

ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 

The power to understand rightly and to use critically the mother- 
tongue is the flower of all education. — President Eliot. 

The ability to use correctly and forcibly fluent and 
facile English is a great accomplishment. President 
Eliot says it is the flower of all education. And that 
flower is as rare as it is desirable. The late Dr. Morgan 
remarks that, " composition, clear, forcible, pleasing, 
correct description, accurate narration, convincing argu- 
ment, persuasive appeal, elegant conversation, and win- 
ning oratory are accomplishments possessed by few." 
This may not be very complimentary to the schools, but 
it seems to be true. At least the reports that come from 
the university, the college, and the high school seem to 
verify this statement. They indicate that the students 
generally are weak in their power to spell and punctuate 
the language, and weaker still to speak with force and 
elegance the mother-tongue. The same criticism applies 
to the public school, and while vigorous efforts have been 
made to remove the defects, yet the almost universal 
verdict of '^ unsatisfactory English " remains as the night- 
mare of the teachers' dreams. In short, it is generally 
admitted without question that the great majority of the 
people "murder the king's Enghsh," that few speak it 
with facility and accuracy, and that not one among many 
is able to use it with ease and elegance. 

This most unsatisfactory condition must be the result 
of certain causes, and to remove it we must strike at the 

337 



338 THE RECITATION 

very roots from which it grows. It is wise, then, before 
suggesting a remedy, to point oat what seems to be some 
of the most prominent causes of this defective English 
found in every school, from the kindergarten to the 
university. 

I.— CAUSES OF DEFECTIVE LANGUAGE. 

1. Heredity and Home Environment are the Sources 
of much of our Defective Langnage. " The child 
learns his mother-tongue by absorption from his en- 
Absorption vironment, and he learns it and can learn it 
from the jn no other way." This is the language of 

Dr. Samuel Thurber, and it seems to me to 
express the first fundamental principle of instruction in 
English. The home environment of the child is an- 
tagonistic to the best results in language-training. This 
is especially true in communities where there is a variety 
of languages used in the homes. Almost every race is 
represented in some of our schools, and the language 
department is nothing short of a linguistic remnant 
counter. Hundreds of children enter them each year 
unable to use or understand good Enghsh. They have 
little hereditary ability, and less inclination to study our 
language from the standpoint of culture and elegance. 
The garbled English of the home and the street is all 
they desire ; to them it seems all that is necessary. 
Their hereditary impediments toward our language, their 
indifference to the high standards of excellence set up 
by the school, their crude and clumsy statements, and 
their mixture of dialects and provincialisms, not only 
render instruction in English difficult, but tend to corrupt 
the vernacular and to rob it of much of its grace and 
beauty. And, try as we may, it seems almost impossible 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 339 

to overcome the evil influences and tendencies of this 
home environment. 

2. InsuflB-cient Time given to the Subject is pos- 
sibly another Cause of our Defective English. The 
last century is noted for the rise and commercial rivalry 
of a half dozen great nations. The spirit of political, 
national, and industrial supremacy gave added interest 
to the study of the vernacular in most of them. At the 
great school conference at Berlin, in 1890, the Emperor 
said, " We wish to educate young Germans, The Emperor's 
not young Greeks or Romans.'" This em- ^^^^• 
phatic statement, backed by centralized authority, had its 
effect, and as a result more time v^as given to the study 
of German and less to the ancient languages. The spirit 
of national rivalry was not entirely opposed to the Cape 
of Good Hope route to culture, but it thought it best to 
send some of its young men by way of the Suez Canal. 

That century gave England the commercial supremacy 
of the world. Her sails whitened every sea and her 
language went with her flag to every port. As a result 
more time was given to the study of her language. The 
same is true of France, where one-fifth of the time in 
the elementary school is devoted to her language and 
literature. 

It is difficult to ascertain exactly what proportionate 
part of the whole time of our schools is given to 
language, but, judging from results, it is certainly insuffi- 
cient. In some schools literature is almost entirely 
ignored, composition slighted, and the modicum of time 
devoted to technical grammar is all that is given to the 
work of English. In many schools it is different ; but 
perhaps in all of them the subject does not receive the 
time its importance demands. But there are signs of a 



340 THE RECITATION 

change. Educators everywhere are studying the prob- 
lem, and more time is assigned to the work than ever 
before. 

Then, too, our national pride has been touched and its 
influence will be felt. The new century finds us in the 
front rank of the nations as one of the world's great powers. 
Our industrial supremacy is conceded, our rights are re- 
Angio-saxon spcctcd. Auglo-Saxou influences are in con- 
supremacy. |.j.qJ j^qj]^ ^^ homc and abroad. At present 
they promise to dominate the civilization of the future. 
If they do, the great language of that civilization will be 
English. All this will add time and interest to its study. 
But at present it is evident that we have not devoted 
enough time to this study to remove the defects, and it is 
possible that this insufficiency in time is one of the causes 
of these defects. 

3. The Worthlessness and Non-educative Value 
of much of our Language Work in the Schools is 
also a Cause of the Defective English. The lan- 
guage lesson, when it appeared a few years ago, was 
somewhat of an experiment. The term was so hazy, so 
indefinable, so nondescript, that even the authors scarcely 
knew its content or its limitations. The result was 
a flood of text-books from various sources. These 
books gave some excellent hints, good suggestions, 
and many valuable lessons ; but much of the space was 
devoted to foolish experiments, idle guesses, and to 
empty exercises that contribute little, or perhaps nothing, 
to the child's mastery of the mother-tongue. Teachers 
have faithfully followed these books, even when the 
lessons seemed to be without purpose or edge, or promise 
of hopeful results. The seed was carefully sown, and 
we had to wait for the harvest before we could be abso- 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 341 

lutely sure that some of it was entirely devoid of life. 
Now we know that much of the time and labor in this 
language field w^as wasted, because of the worthlessness 
of the seed. Dr. Stanley Hall boldly as- Stanley Haii 
serts that " The cause of this deterioration quoted. 
in young persons' English must be ascribed to the kind 
and amount of language lessons that have lately come 
into such prominence." Many may not concur in this 
sweeping conclusion, but all must admit that much of 
the language work has been absolutely worthless and 
devoid of good results, and as such it must be regarded 
as one of the causes of our imperfect English. 

4. The Study of Form rather than Content in 
Lang-uage is a Most Potent Cause for our Defective 
English. The formal study of language regards it as a 
science, and includes grammar, analysis, and rhetoric. 
The content side of the study regards it as an art, and 
includes all that constructive work w^hich results in cor- 
rect habits of expression, and which gives richness, force, 
and fluency to utterance. These habits are formed be- 
fore the child can study a science, and hence construc- 
tive English should, to some extent, precede technical 
English. And since forming correct habits is much more 
difficult than giving instruction in a science, the amount 
of constructive work necessary in the elementary school 
greatly exceeds the technical. These principles have 
been disregarded ; indeed, in some places no construc- 
tive w^ork has been given, and technical grammar has 
been regarded as the only medium of language instruc- 
tion in the higher grades. 

This is one of the tap-roots of our defective English. 
For technical grammar, important as it is in its place, 
is purely a study of form. It deals with the mechanics 



342 THE RECITATION 

of language. It gives power of mind, not power of 
expression. It results in wisdom rather than linguistic 

A Tap-root of ^^^^^' ^^ ^^^^^ knowledge about language 
Defective rather than ability to use it. It follows the 

^^ ^^ ' methods of a science rather than the methods 

of an art. But good English is not a question of sci- 
ence, or mechanics, or of form, but of art, content and 
subject matter. And the cause of much of the trouble 
in language is due to this emphasis on the technical 
rather than on the literary and the constructive sides of 
English. 

5. Another Cause of Defective English is the 
Vagueness that surrounds both Matter and Method. 
The course in mathematics is clearly defined and the 
methods of instruction well understood. The same is 
true in reading and geography, in Latin and history. 
But the essential conditions that mark the limitations of 
good language work and the principles that guide in the 
instruction are vague, indefinite, and dimly defined, 
even in the minds of the leaders in pedagogical thought. 
In matter and method this department has been for years 
in a most unsettled condition, and teachers have experi- 
enced great difficulty in finding safe guides. We have 
been passing through a period of transition, in which the 
language-ship, much of the time, had neither compass nor 
rudder, and consequently it had to drift with the tide. 
Of this period the late Dr. Hinsdale says : "In no depart- 
ment of study have the schools seen more dissatisfaction, 
unrest, and experiment than in language. Everything is 
in a flux ; superintendents, authors, and teachers seem to 
appreciate that something bearing the name English must 
constitute a marked feature of the schools, but they do 
not, as a class, at least, see clearly what it should be or 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 343 



how it should be taught." What to do and how to do 
it, in order to eradicate the garbled English in our 
schools, is still a vague problem to many teachers, and 
so long as it remains in the haze and mist that befogs it, 
instruction in this department will be general, indefinite, 
and barren of best results. 

These are the causes of our defects in English, and 
each contributes something that tends to render its con- 
ditions in the elementary schools so unsatisfactory. The 
first is more or less permanent, and will remain for years 
as a thorn in the teacher's flesh. It lies AThomin 
largely beyond the influence of the school, *^® ^^^s^- 
and is strongly entrenched behind the social condition 
of the people. But the others are temporary, and may 
be entirely removed, or so pruned as to minimize their 
undesirable effects. 

n.— ENDS TO BE ATTAINED IN TEACHTNa ENGLISH. 
"All aimless teaching is poor teaching," says the late 
Dr. White. And a knowledge of ends is just as im- 
portant as a knowledge of means. Indeed, the former 
determines the latter. For what you ought to do to 
reach the desired end decides what you will do, and a 
knowledge of ends selects the matter and regulates the 
method of means. Before suggesting the means, how- 
ever, let us inquire. What are the ends to be attained in 
teaching English ? Stated in general terms, the aim is 
to cultivate a taste for good literature and to develop to 
the highest possible degree the art of expression. These 
are important, if the individual is to understand and 
appreciate the works of the great thinkers, and to use 
the mother-tongue in a fluent, clear, logical, con- 
vincing, and agreeable manner. One of the best mod- 



344 THE RECITATION 

ern writers on this subject says that the. leading aims 
of a course in English are " to develop the child's power 
of thought, to form in him habits of correct expres- 
sion, and to give him a taste for good literature." 
These are certainly the main ones in the elementary 
school. 

1. The First Great Aim is to Develop the Power 
of Thought. The child's language is an expression of 
his own thought, not that of the teacher or author. It 
is occasioned by the exercise of his own mind upon the 
subject matter. But he cannot express what he does 
not possess, and hence thought-formation must precede 
thought-expression. Thinking not only precedes lan- 
guage, but to a great extent it determines its character. 
Clearness of Accuracy in thinking leads to accuracy in 
Thought gives expressiou, and clearness and vigor of 

OlBSfm CSS 

and Vigor to thought tend to give clearness and vigor to 
Expression. exprcssiou. If, then, thought precedes ex- 
pression, if it supplies the necessary material, and 
gives accuracy and vigor to oral and written speech, 
it must be a most important end in all language instruc- 
tion. 

2. The Second Aim is to Lead the Child to form 
Habits of Correct Expression. Habit is a growth. 
Any act oft repeated becomes automatic. And the child 
ought to have a correct automatic use of the ordinary 
mechanics of language. Without it facility in expression 
and rapidity of utterance are impossible. In all rapid 
discourse the mind is centered mainly upon the thought, 
and can give but little attention to the correctness of 
expression. This must come largely as a matter of 
habit. If this is true it certainly follows that one of the 
chief aims of instruction in English is to give the child 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 345 

the ability to use unconsciously the correct forms of 
ordinary expression. 

3. A Third Great Aim in Language Instruction 
is to give the Child a Taste for Good Literature. 
Literature is the treasure-house of the race. It contains 
the choicest gems of truth and beauty, phrased by the 
high priests of thought and expression. It has elements 
of culture which the formal study of language can never 
give. It touches the emotional nature of the Literature 
child, cultivates the taste, appeals to his ar- ^^^ culture. 
tistic sense, stirs his creative faculty, and reacts upon his 
whole spiritual life, says a recent writer. It is the great 
source from which the child must enrich his thoughts 
and his speech. He may be able to speak fluently and 
correctly without a knowledge of it, but the thought 
will be crude and the language commonplace. Litera- 
ture is the " expression of the life, thought, spirit, and 
humanity of the race." It gives culture to mind, rich- 
ness to thought, and elegance to expression. Without 
some familiarity with it, choice diction and refinement 
of style are almost impossible. If good literature gives 
tone and quality to thought and grace and elegance to 
expression, then one of the chief aims of all language 
study is certainly to create a desire for it, and to raise 
the child to the place where he will experience real 
pleasure searching for its truth and beauty. 

4. A Fourth Great Aim in Language Instruction, 
expressed in the Works of the "Writer quoted 
above, is "to give the Pupil a Mastery of the 
Fundamental Facts of English Grammar, and to 
lead him to use that Knowledge in the Interpreta- 
tion of Literature and in the Expression of his own 
Thought." This is a most important object to be kept 



346 THE RECITATION 

constantly in view. The study of technical grammar in 
the seventh and eighth grades gives the child a knowl- 
edge of the fundamental facts and principles, but in 
many schools little attention is given to the application 
of those facts to the expression of the child's own 
thought. Knowledge alone of the subject is valuable, 
but knowledge applied to concrete work is far better. 
Practice and knowledge applied are the keynotes of 
success. The knowledge of religion is important, but 
the practice ot it in the affairs of life far outweighs its 
knowledge. The same is true in the domain of morals 
and education. " We studied a book telling us how to 
write a composition, but we did not write any," said a 
high-school graduate to me when the time came to pre- 
pare a commencement essay. What a criticism upon 
the instruction in English in that school ! And yet 
Emphasis it may apply to more than one school, 
placed on Empliasis must be placed, not on the knowl- 
Grammarand edge of grammar and rhetoric alone, but 
Rhetoric. rather upon the application of that knowl- 

edge to the interpretation of good literature and to the 
expression of the child's own thought. For it is appli- 
cation of the principles of language, rather than a 
knowledge of them, that leads to the formation of the 
child's literary taste, and that gives him force and fluency 
in the use of good English. If this is true, then one 
great aim in all language instruction is the application 
of these fundamental facts and principles to concrete 
work. 

With some knowledge of the causes of defective Eng- 
lish and the ends to be kept in view in the work of in- 
struction, let us proceed at once to a consideration of 
the means by pointing out some of the stepping-stones 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 347 

the child must use m his upward progress toward the 
realms of purer and better English. 

m.— STEPPING-STONES TO BETTER ENGUSH. 

1. The Example of the Teacher as a Model of 
Accuracy and Excellence is a Great Stepping-stone 
to Better English. Choice diction, correct expression, 
and a critical hnguistic habit on his part are as essential 
as they are helpful. " Habits of expression are caught 
as well as taught.'' This is especially true in the pri- 
mary grades. " The new vase preserves the taste of 
the first liquor that is put into it." " And the end," ac- 
cording to Seneca, " is attained sooner by example than 
by precept." This is as true in language as m ethics. 
If the teacher is "good usage incarnate," if he is a 
"paragon of excellence," "an exemplar of 

The Teacher's 

English as a ^ pure and polished style," the embodiment 
Paragon of fyf (.jg^j. g^^-^^ forccful Euglisli, and a tireless 

Excellence. ° 

critic of all habits that tend to corrupt the 
vernacular, his example and his influence will be worth 
more to the child than all the grammars ever printed. 

Of course, such an ideal is never found in one indi- 
vidual, but there are many w-ho possess some of these 
qualifications. And the child that breathes an atmos- 
phere of refined English at home, and that is fortunate 
enough to be under a teacher who approaches this 
ideal, will experience little trouble in forming correct 
habits of expression. But with the child from the home 
where the environment is antagonistic to every effort to 
raise the standard of excellence, the w^ork is most diffi- 
cult. In either case, however, the example of the teacher, 
if he is accurate and strong, easy and elegant in the 
use of language, is a most important aid to better English. 



348 THE RECITATION 

2. A Second Stepping-stone to Better English is 
Interest in the Language Work on the Part of the 
Pupil. Unconscious absorption is the great process 
through which the child acquires the use of good Eng- 
lish. The success of this process depends upon a rich 
environment filled with the desirable material to be ab- 
sorbed, and upon the receptive or absorbing condition 
of the child's mind while the process is in operation. 
This hungry, absorbing, receptive frame of mind in 
the child we call interest. It is of first importance. 
The man interested in a fortune generally acquires it. 
The boy interested in machinery becomes a mechanic. 
The young man interested in physical training becomes an 
athlete. So the child interested in language will absorb 
it if it is present in his environment. 

The problem of instruction is to arouse the interest 
and supply the environment. Each alone is incom- 
plete, but combined they form a complete language unity. 
The child is interested in the kernel, not the shell of the 
nut. Things are always interesting to children. The 
sled in winter is far more interesting to him than any 
account of it. So the substance and content of language, 
the child's own thought, is likely to be of more interest 
to him than the form or structure of the sentence by 
which he expresses it. 

Much of the language work is lifeless. It lacks in- 
terest on the part of either teacher or pupil. It is, 
therefore, useless, and could be entirely omitted with- 
Recitations out loss to the cMld. For recitations 
without without interest only tend to deaden and 

Interest are "^ 

Worthless. stultify the children, to foster and encourage 
stupidity, and to degrade to lifeless formality the sub- 
lime art of teaching. This is true in every department, 



ENGLISH IX THE RECITATION 349 

aiid especially in language ^York. The first essential to 
good language work is to create conditions that will 
arouse the interest of the child in the subject. Unless 
the cliild is so energized that he not only desires, but is 
really anxious, to take his part, the work will result in 
failure. The most stupid individual has subjects of 
great interest to him upon Avhich he can talk forcibly, 
though perhaps not elegantly. Ask the jockey to talk 
horse, or the foot-ball devotee the game, and you unlock 
the xevj flood-gates of a fluent and forceful, though 
perhaps corrupted English. The child, who with strong, 
logical, and aggressive argument maintains his rights on 
the playground, is often weak and ineffective in his lan- 
guage work in class. On the playground his rights were 
touched, his mterest threatened ; the purpose to defend 
those rights was supreme and definite, and his language 
was the unconscious instrument of defense. As a result 
it was fluent, forceful, and convincing. All these condi- 
tions in the class-room will cause the lifeless body of 
a formal language lesson to spring upon its feet. An 
atmosphere of interest will thaw out the frozen powers 
of the child, create a desire to express that thought in 
the accomplishment of some purpose, and make the 
child as fluent and forceful in the class-room as on the 
playground. Thus all aflame with personal interest, and 
inspired with a personal desire to say something, or to 
convince somebody, he will quickly absorb from his en- 
vironment any good English that will aid him in reaching 
the desired end. Thus interest is not only a great step- 
ping-stone to good English, but it is the very foundation 
upon which every other one must rest. 

3. A Third Stepping'-stone to Better English is 
an Abundance of Ideas and a Desire to Express 



350 THE RECITATION 

Them. To be asked to make bricks without the neces- 
sary straw was once regarded as a great injustice. There 
is as much injustice in it in the class-room as in the 
brick-yard. Preceding all expression must be the 
thought and the supreme desire of the child to express 
it for some definite purpose. Children prefer to use the 
things they own. The boy likes to play with his own 
toys rather than those of his companion. The thought 
that he is to express should be his own, occasioned by 
the exercise of his mind upon the subject matter. Too 
much of our language work asks the child to express 
the ready-made thought of the teacher or the author. 
This suppresses both the interest and the desire of the 
child. Again, the child is asked to speak or write before 
he is ready with suitable material. The stone and 
mortar must be supplied before the wall can be con- 
structed ; so an abundance of ideas is necessary to 
growth in the art of expression. 

Some modern writer has said that it is better to be 
able to express seven ideas in one language than to 
The First express oue idea in seven languages. The 

Requisite of fjj.g^ obiect in lanoTuasre instruction is to de- 
Language o o 

is Something velop the power of thought, not only because 
to Say. accuracy in expression springs from accuracy 

in thought, but because it supplies the necessary material 
for expression. Morgan says, ^' Carlyle was a great 
writer in spite of his barbarous English." This was 
because his mind was a storehouse of majestic ideas 
and sublime thoughts that are attractive even when 
clothed in the garb of clumsy English. But the best 
linguistic garb is of little use without an idea on which 
to fit it. As principles must precede formulas, as proc- 
esses precede rules, so ideas must precede expression. 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 351 

An abundance of ideas on the subject to be discussed is a 
pre-requisite to the discussion of it, whether that discus- 
sion be oral or written. This, then, hke interest, is a step- 
ping-stone to better Enghsh and a foundation for all the 
other stones. For each thought calls forth its own 
sentence, and without thought there can be no expres- 
sion. 

4. A Fourth Stepping'-stone to Better English is 
the Improvement of the Child's Vocabulary. Howell 
says, " Words are the soul's embassadors," and anything 
that enlarges and enriches the child's working vocab- 
ulary adds to his power of expression. Words are 
Uke spectacles ; we look through them rather than at 
them. Through their transparent forms we see the 
ideas which they represent. Thought is externalized by 
words. They are the neat-fitting or the ill-fitting gar- 
ments in which w^e enrobe our ideas as we send them 
forth. If ideas are important, so are words, for every 
idea must have its corresponding sign. If this is true 
the abundance of ideas that may be expressed depends 
somewhat upon the words at our command. And the 
very range of our thought is limited by the power to set 
it forth in suitable words. A limited vocabulary means, 
to some extent, a limited range of thought and a limited 
power of expression. The importance of a rich and 
extended vocabulary as a stepping-stone to good English 
cannot be overestimated. A deluge of words with little 
sense illustrates the truth of Pope's famous lines : 

"Words are like leaves, and where they most abound, 
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found. ' ' 

But the right word fitly spoken is what I mean. The 
rich, strong word, that exactly voices the sentiment of 



352 THE RECITATION 

the heart, and wings into the outer world the exact idea 
of the mind, is the word that should be selected. Such 
words are thought in action ; they are the weapons of 
the soul ; with them its battles are won by convincing 
logic, entrancing eloquence, fascinating conversation, and 
The Right pcrsuasive appeal. It is this right use of 
Use of Words, ^yords that Dr. Nightingale has in view when 
he says, " Words are the ammunition in the battery of 
intelligence ; steam in the engines of thought ; true coin 
in the exchange marts of scholastic culture, the common 
carriers of all thought, and the drawn swords in all 
strife." If this is true a rich and extended vocabulary 
is of great importance, that every noble thought of the 
child may enrobe itself in the language that befits it. 
For while a blemish in a diamond may be removed by 
polishing, a defect in language affects the very fibre 
of the human soul and defies all ordinary efforts at 
removal. 

'' Boys flying kite haul in their white- winged birds ; 
You can't do that when you're flying words. 
Words unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead, 
But God himself won't kill them when they're said." 

In extending the child's vocabulary we enlarge his 
ability to set forth his thought in suitable oral or written 
language. This properly includes three things, — the 
spelling, the pronunciation, and the ability to use the 
word as an instrument of thought. It is essential that 
these three go hand in hand, at least in all schools 
above the lowest primary. The power to use words 
effectively is greatly impaired in many schools by teach- 
ing the child to spell the word without giving him a 
mastery of its use. For it is the use of words, rather 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 353 

than their spelling, that makes them circulating me- 
diums of thought. And words you can spell but cannot 
use are like dollars stored in a vault; they what an 
accomplish nothing. It is not the spelling vocabuS-y 
alone of the word, but the spelling and the Means. 
use of it, that makes it part of the child's vocabulary. 
In extending his vocabulary he should be taught to 
syllabize, as an aid both in spelling and pronunciation. 
The child learns to pronounce words by hearing them 
pronounced correctly or by consulting the dictionary. 
He learns to use them by gleaning their meaning from 
the printed page, by hearing others use them appropri- 
ately, or by a study of the dictionary. Out of these 
facts arise three suggestions that will greatly aid in en- 
larging and enriching his vocabulary. 

(a) In diction and pronunciation the teacher should 
be a correct model for the child. As he uses a new 
word, the child is likely to use it. 

(b) The words in the spelling-books for intermediate 
and grammar grades should be separated into syllables 
and marked for pronunciation ; and each should be used 
in a sentence that will clearly set forth its meaning. In 
the absence of this the teacher in pronouncing all words 
to be spelled should use each in a sentence. 

(c) In the grammar grades and the high school more 
time should be given to the study of the dictionary to 
give the child a purer diction and the ability ^^^^^^ ^ 

to appreciate the delicate shades of meaning and Purity of 
contained in words. Our language is especi- ^^'^*^°°- 
ally rich in synonyms, words expressing approximately, 
but not exactly, the same idea And richness and purity 
of diction call for the word that will exactly express 
the shade of meaning desired. The study must not 



354 THE RECITATION 

degenerate into hair-splitting distinctions and puerile 
subtleties, but to that exactness which enriches speech. 
A copious and correct speech avoids monosyllabicism on 
the one side and stilted polysyllabicism on the other. 
Accurate and scholarly diction calls forth the right word 
in the right place and avoids all clumsy expression. 
And this study of the dictionary will greatly aid the 
child in acquiring the power to use English words in 
their proper places. 

Then, if we teach empty words without their corre- 
sponding ideas, we are hkely to illustrate Pope's words in 
the Dunciad, and place our schools on a level with those 
whose work called forth his scathing criticism : 

" Since man from beasts by words is known, 
Words are man's province, words we teach alone. 



We ply the memory, we load the brain, 
Bind rebel wit, and double chain on chain. 
Confine the thoughts, to exercise the breath, 
And keep them in the pale of words till death." 

Beneath the surface of Pope's fme satire is a lesson 
in pedagogy that it is well for us to heed. We may kill 
the thought as well as the interest by exercising the 
breath in spelling meaningless symbols. Such misguided 
A Jargon of efforts would reduce language to a mere 
Words. jargon of words. But effective work in 

orthography always presents the jeweled gems of 
thought along with the beautiful caskets in which they 
were first placed by the philologists. Separated, each is 
useless, but united, they form one's vocabulary. The 
child's vocabulary, then, includes only the words he can 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 355 

use in oral and written language. And it follows that a 
rich and extended vocabulary is one of the most im- 
portant of all aids in acquiring a fluent and facile use 
of the mother-tongue. 

5. Another Stepping'-stone to Better English is 
the Oral Lang-uag-e Lesson. The importance of oral 
work in the primary grades is often underestimated. 
There seems to be a notion that much of the language 
should be written. In practical life oral speech is far 
more important than written. The use of the former is 
a thousand times that of the latter. Habit is stronger 
than instruction, and the habits of expression formed 
by the child remain in spite of the knowledge of syntax 
he acquires later. As a result, many persons who can 
write in almost faultless English are unable to give ut- 
terance to a dozen thoughts without the most glaring 
errors in syntax. 

The main object of language instruction in the primary 
school is to give the child habits of correct oral expres- 
sion. Since the child can talk before he can write, and 
much faster than he can write, the oral lesson must be 
regarded as the chief instrument of instruction in such 
schools. The child enters school with incorrect habits. 
If you cannot remove them and form correct ones, all 
other instruction will be of little use in oral speech. 
The best work that can be done in the elementary school 
is to note the incorrect habits, and then induce the child 
to talk in such a way as will remove them. This oral 
work may proceed along many lines. 

(a) Place an object before the child. Train him to 
observe its size, shape, color, characteristics, and use. 
Then induce him to talk about it as his observations 
suggest. This will train both mind and tongue. 



356 THE RECITATION 

(6) Place a picture before him. Train him to read in 
it, if possible, the artist's meaning, and also what his own 
imagination suggests. Then induce him to talk about it. 
This has one advantage over the first, — it cultivates the 
imagination ; and when you touch the imagination, says 
the late Dr. White, you unlock the powers of expression. 

(c) Tell the child in faultless English a fascinating 
story. The tone and language should be such as will 
expand and enrich both his morals and his vocabulary. 
Then let him reproduce the story, using as much of the 
choice language as possible. This trains the memory 
and the morals, as well as the art of expression. And 
in all this oral work the teacher should remember that 
clearness of thought, facility of utterance, accuracy of 
expression, and richness and purity of diction are just 
as important as in written language. 

Then there is too much written work in the school. 
Dr. Rice says that all the instruction given in a day could 
The Amount of be doiic in two hours. Much of the written 
Written Work, ^ork takcs time and gives no educative re- 
turn. Arithmetic without pencils or crayon in some 
primary schools would save much time and give the 
pupils much more ability. And the endless round of 
copying and writing language work in the elementary 
school requires time and saps the vitality of the child ; 
it is often injurious to his eyes, leads to incorrect habits 
of posture and pen-holding, and gives very little educa- 
tional return. The oral language lesson in economizing 
time and effort, and in giving correct habits of oral ex- 
pression, is a most important stepping-stone to better 
English. And its value and possibilities as such in the 
elementary school have scarcely been realized. 

6. Another Important Stepping-stone to Higher 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 357 

Planes of Lingnistic Culture is the Reading* and 
Study of the Masterpieces of Good EngUsh. The 
value of this aid no one can doubt. Next to the child's 
association with cultured people in the home and in the 
school, no other agency is so potent in the enrichment 
and cultivation of the child's habitual use of English as 
literature. The child absorbs his mother-tongue from 
that part of his environment in which he is deeply in- 
terested. If we can create an interest in good literature, 
and bring an abundant supply of it into his environ- 
ment, we thereby create the conditions in which the proc- 
ess of absorption may, nay, must take place. Litera- 
ture is a most impressive teacher. All unconsciously 
the child is trained by it into the automatic use of a cor- 
rect and copious English. It is the business of the 
school to put this effective teacher into right relations 
with the child, that all obstructions to his work may be 
removed. And the most important phases of this right 
relationship are those of environment and interest. 
Through the agency of books, choice gems, stories, and 
poems, we can create a taste for the best, and, if pos- 
sible, supply a good literary environment where the 

child may 

" Mingle with the great and wise, 
Roam, unmolested, the vast treasures, 
Where wisdom's priceless gems are scattered free." 

Mr. Lowell once said, "The Greek classics are crammed 
with life." So are many of the English classics. And 
the child that feels the thrill of that life is influenced 
Mr. Lowell's by it. The truth and beauty of that life. 
Fine Phrase. coined by great masters of thought and ex- 
pression into their choicest gems, must, all unconscious- 
ly, through the power of imitation and absorption, be- 



358 THE RECITATION 

come a part of the child's Hfe. His life meets the 
author's at the glow-points of interest, and part of the 
richness and beauty of the larger hfe is transferred to 
the child as his permanent possession. 

The influence of literature on the great writers is 
very suggestive. The reading of two books made Hans 
Christian Andersen a great author, and gave to the 
world one of its brightest literary stars. Milton from 
childhood read the choicest literature of all schools. 
It is said that he was familiar with the best classics 
before he was twelve, and his fame as a writer was 
secure and his name immortal before he was thirty. 
Bryant at nineteen astonished the poets of the old 
world with his Thanatopsis, but he escaped the modern 
language lesson and much of the technical grammar 
while he devoured voraciously the best in literature. 
Hawthorne studied classics before he produced them. 
John Burroughs ascribes to Emerson his improved liter- 
ary style, while " Matthew Arnold taught him clear 
thinking and clean writing." '^ Charles Lamb devoted 
much attention to early English literature." Speaking 
of the education of his talented, yet erratic, sister, who 
aided him so much in the preparation of the " Tales from 
Shakespeare," he says, " She was tumbled early, by ac- 
cident or design, into a spacious closet of good old Eng- 
lish reading, and browsed at will upon that fair and 
wholesome pasturage." " The flower of Athens' best cul- 
ture thronged the Academic Gardens to hear the sweet 
speech of the master, melodious as the song of the cica- 
das in the trees above his head." Yet, Plato lived be- 
fore the days of language lessons and technical gram- 
mar, and four hundred years before the first rhetoric. 
Addison was the pride of the London literary world at 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 359 

twenty-three, but his father was a "voluminous and 
an agreeable writer," and the boy lived in an atmo- 
sphere of literature and culture. In speaking of the 
dignity that marked the expression of some of the 
eariiest writers, a modern critic remarks : The influence of 
"Their speech was noble because they Good Literature, 
lunched with Plutarch and supped with Plato." 

These examples are very significant. And while our 
children in the schools are only common mortals, when 
we think of them in connection with these great stars, 
yet the same law holds good. And if they are permitted 
to lunch and sup with the grand masters of thought 
and expression, they are sure to absorb some of their 
force and elegance. 

After selecting the gems, poems, stories, and books 
for this work, the question naturally arises. How shall 
we use them that the best results may be secured ? 
The best answer to this question is that the child needs 
the facts of literature rather than facts about it. The 
value of this subject is mainly in its content, not its 
form ; in its subject matter, not its history. The husks 
and shell of form, and facts that throw light on the his- 
tory of the subject are important in their place, but 
their value is as nothing when compared to the kernels 
of thought. The child must be fed mainly on the facts 
of literature spiced with the simple historical dressing 
that will interest him. He must get the subtle aroma 
of good English as it comes to him bottled up in the 
clearest thought and the choicest gems. He slaking the 
is to read, memorize, and think about the out ^rinkkig 
best, and absorb as much of it as possible, the weii Dry. 
He may not be able to comprehend all of the wealth 
of thought and the beauty of expression in a gem of 



360 THE RECITATION 

literature, but he can apprehend and absorb part of it. 
He cannot drink the well dry, but he can slake his thirst 
and make part of its contents his own. 

The study of literature is one of the great stepping- 
stones to better English. And the teacher who would 
do most for the child must remember that the facts 
of the subject are better than facts about it ; that con- 
tent is better than form ; that habits of expression are 
caught as well as taught ; that apprehension precedes 
comprehension, and that absorption is the most potent of 
all processes by which the child is to acquire a mas- 
tery of the mother-tongue. 

7. Composition is an Important Stepping-stone 
to Better English. In it the purpose is to put the 
thought into the best possible English. All the pupil's 
knowledge of the fundamental facts of language is 
brought to bear upon the written sentence or para- 
graph. The mind of the child sits in judgment 
upon the expression. It demands clearness, force, and 
elegance. The composition may not embody these 
qualities to any great extent, but the mind that makes 
the effort is lifted toward them, for facility in any art 
comes not so much from practice as from careful prac- 
tice on the highest level of the pupiPs best effort. 
This practice in composition is one of greatest aids 
to linguistic excellence. And no teacher can expect 
a child to be able to express his thought freely and 
forcibly in choice phraseology and terse English with- 
out abundant practice in the art of composition. 

(a) One of the simplest forms of composition is the 
dictation exercise. This exercise is exceedingly valua- 
ble in helping the child to break up a current of 
thought on any subject into suitable sentence units. 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 361 

It also aids in the mastery of the mechanical forms 
of written language. In short, no other exercise is 
superior to dictation in teaching the form and mean- 
ing of words and in fixing the rules for punctuation 
and for the use of capitals. 

(b) The reproduction of stories is an important phase 
of composition work in the lower grades. The story 
should be told in choice English, and a few impor- 
tant words from it, that will enlarge and enrich the 
child's vocabulary, written on the board and thorough- 
ly taught to him. These words should be placed and 
grouped in the order in which they occur in the story, 
that they will not only serve as suggestive keynotes to 
its reproduction, but also aid in its division into para- 
graphs. 

(c) Letter-writing is another important phase of com- 
position. And in this it is well to note that the let- 
ter includes more than the heading, address, and sub- 
scription. These are important in their place, but it 
is the body of the letter that is valuable as a compo- 
sition exercise. Some teachers think the work practice ax 
of letter-writing is completed when the child Lhi^^tsti* 
can punctuate correctly these formal parts. Excellence. 
This is a mistake. The child is just prepared then to 
begin the work. Do not neglect the form and be sure 
to emphasize the content. 

(c^) In the intermediate and grammar grades the par- 
agraph should be given special attention. At first it 
will be very imperfect, but with much practice it may 
be made a unit of composition. As such it will have 
an introduction, a discussion, and a conclusion. Its 
unity will be as complete in itself as the unity of the 
composition. 



362 THE RECITATION 

(e) The personal narrative is an important aid in 
composition. It may be real or fictitious, giving an 
accomit of some experience or some imaginary trip 
or adventure. It is one of the easiest forms of com- 
position. The material is within easy reach of the 
child, and its personal character breaks up the stiff 
formality that is liable to mark all early efforts to com- 
pose. It is always one of the most popular forms 
of composition. The child experiences a keen delight 
in relating what he has done, where he has been, 
and what he has seen. The teacher who will give it 
a trial will find the personal narrative a simple and yet 
a most valuable part of composition. 

(/) Description is another important part of com- 
position. This is simply the portrayal of the charac- 
teristics or appearance of anything by means of words. 
It is, perhaps, a little more difficult than simple nar- 
ration, and in practice should follow rather than pre- 
cede it. To describe well is as difficult as it is im- 
portant. For it calls for careful observation and ac- 
curate dehneation. And yet it holds such an impor- 
tant place in almost every variety of composition that 
every child at some stage of his language work should 
have some practice in it. The child's imagination is 
likely to magnify and distort things, and great care 
must be exercised lest his description, by the use of 
too many superlatives, overdraw and exaggerate the 
real facts. 

(g) The argument is a form of composition that 
may be used to advantage in the eighth grade and the 
high school. It is a statement of reasons that estab- 
tablish a definite conclusion. Force and clearness in 
expression are its essential characteristics. The child at 



ENGLISH IX THE RECITATIOX 363 

this age may not reason with much logic, but in all 
debate the purpose is so definite that the language part 
of it is easier for him than is generally imagined. Chil- 
dren have their opinions on simple subjects, and in the 
interests of both logic and language they should be 
tramed to express them. On the play- opinions Are 
eround thev are constantly affirming or the Results of 

\ . \ ,, '. T " . Thought, and 

denymg, and the argument is such an im- the occasion 
portant weapon of linguistic warfare that ^or Expression. 
exeTy child should be tramed to construct it. 

(h) After the child has had some practice in these 
simpler forms, he is ready to try the more formal com- 
position. This embraces several paragraphs, and is a 
unit in itself, including an introduction, a discussion, 
and a conclusion. The production of a formal compo- 
sition naturally sub-divides into three distinct parts, the 
subject matter, the order of its arrangement, and its 
written expression. The first and second are the joint 
product of the teacher and the class. Together they 
suggest the thought and arrange the outline for the 
composition. Each main division in the outline will 
suggest the subject matter for a paragraph. 

It is wise to select simple subjects within the range 
of the child's thought. Care must be taken if you se- 
lect historic, geogi'aphic or encyclopedic subjects, lest 
the pupil learn to compile rather than compose. This 
can generally be avoided by having the composition 
written m the school, under the immediate supendsion 
of the teacher. 

After the subject is selected one lesson period is 
spent in its development. The field of fact Getting the 
around it is carefully examined and ex- subject. 
plored. The teacher directs the thought of the class and 



364 THE RECITATIOT^ 

suggests the lines of investigation. Under skilful guid- 
ance the pupils think, discover, conclude ; they select 
and arrange material, and a rough skeleton outline is 
prepared to give form to the composition and to di- 
rect the child's thought at each point as he writes. 
This concludes the first and second stages of the work, 
and it is well to wait for a week or ten days before 
writing, that the child may have time for reading and 
thinking on the subject. 

The third stage of the work is mainly that of the 
child. The outline is before the pupil, but the thought 
it suggests and its written expression are purely his own. 
He grasps the pen with pleasure because interest, prepa- 
ration, and arrangement have robbed the 

ThG TGachsr 

Helps to formal composition of its terrors. The 

MaterLi^and fssult is a Set of compositions from a class ; 
Plan the Work ; each with the same form and general 
thought content because of the outline, but 
each coined in the individual expression of the child who 
wrote it. 

The correction of these compositions is an important 
part of the work. It is wise to have one member of a 
class write on the board that all may get the benefit of 
the public criticism of it. As the class writes the teacher 
should move from seat to seat, making suggestions and 
correcting and preventing errors. If all the rules for 
punctuation and for capitals belonging to the grade are 
taught early in September, the pupil can apply them dur- 
ing the year, and save the teacher much of the work of 
correction. All misspelled words should be corrected 
and used for special drills. All grammatical errors 
should be collected in a book for that purpose, and then 
made the basis of a lesson in grammar before the next 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 365 

composition is written. It is wise to place the initials of 
the pupil in this book opposite the errors he has made, 
that you may bring those errors directly to his notice in 
the class. After the compositions have been corrected 
individually by the teacher, the child should rewrite them 
in a book for that purpose. This plan of correcting com- 
positions requires some time and much work on the part 
of the teacher. But it will bring its return. The indi- 
vidual child is brought face to face with his imperfect 
English and he soon acquires some power to direct his 
own thought and to select the language with which to 
express it. 

The number of compositions to be written in the year 
must vary with the grade and capacity of the children. 
The reproduction of the story, the writing of personal 
narratives, simple descriptions, short letters, require 
little previous preparation on the part of the child, and 
one or two such exercises can be written each week. 
But the formal composition is different. It takes the 
language period of one day to gather and arrange the 
material ; another for the writing, and a third for the 
lesson in false syntax that springs from it. It thus takes 
three days to write and correct each one, and one every 
ten days would devote three-tenths of the child's time in 
language to composition. This is not too much. The 
teachers who require but three or four compositions in a 
year should never find fault with the children's defective 
English. They might just as well try to fat- 

, i 1 T_ p J' •! i» !• ±u Practice Makes 

ten a turkey by feedmg it four times a month perfect. 
as to make a pupil clear, strong, and accu- 
rate in composition by writing four times a year. The 
way to learn to write is to write. And the teacher who 
has no better plan, and who will faithfully and persistently 



366 THE RECITATION 

follow the imperfect one suggested above will find that 
there is, at least in the higher grades, no other stepping- 
stone to better English that is more important than com- 
position. 

8. The Formal Study of Technical Grammar and 
Rhetoric is a Valuable Stepping-stone to Better Eng- 
lish. But it is to be noted that this belongs to the sev- 
enth and eighth grades and the high school, and that the 
child's habits of expression are largely formed before the 
influence of these studies can be brought to bear upon 
them. They put him in possession of the fundamental 
facts of language, and these facts aid him in understand- 
ing good literature and in critically passing upon his 
own English or that of another. White says that " Eng- 
lish grammar at the proper age trains the analytic judg- 
ment, develops the power to interpret language, and 
establishes a standard for the correction of errors in 
one's speech and in that of others ; but it is of little 
value to the child in acquiring the art of expressing with 
facility what he knows." Compayre, quoting Herder, 
says, " Grammar must be learned through language, not 
language through grammar." And Spencer declares that 
" as grammar was made after language, so it must be 
taught after it." Marcel thinks that "grammar is not 
the stepping-stone, but the finishing instrument." These 
What They eminent authorities seem to agree that tech- 
Think, nical grammar is something in a course in 
English, but not everything. And the thoughtful teacher 
cannot fail to see its true value. lie will not regard it 
as a fetich to be worshipped with blind adoration, or a 
pariah to be despised and shunned, but rather as a val- 
uable servant in the work of interpretation, and as a 
judicial critic that passes upon errors and ever holds 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 367 

aloft the standards of accuracy and elegance. And while 
it does not greatly aid in the mastery of the mother- 
tongue, and contributes little in the fluent and facile 
use of the vernacular, yet it throws light on the sci- 
ence of language, gives logical mental discipline, estab- 
Hshes the rules of syntax, and furnishes a key to the 
interpretation of good literature. And hence it must be 
regarded as one of the stepping-stones to better EngUsh. 
9. The Last Stepping'-ston© to Good English, and 
perhaps not the least in importance, is the Literary 
Society. And it is to be regretted that it is in so many 
communities passing into "a state of innocuous desue- 
tude." In it the child studies and declaims the choic- 
est and best, and tries to express his own thought in 
terse, strong, accurate language. These efforts are rich 
in their returns. The masters of debate have ever been 
masters of logic and of clear, strong English. " Who 
goes on paper with Hamilton," said Burr, " is lost." 
The same was true of him who met him in debate. 
And Hamilton, Webster, Adams, Clay, and Lincoln, and 
all the other masters of forensic speech, owed much 
of their power to the old-fashioned literary society or 
debating club. It made them the ready masters of their 
own thoughts and speech, and through them they learned 
to sway and control others. In all debate the purpose 
is so definite, the desire to win so great, the interest so 
intense, and the appreciation of popular applause so 
fascinating, that the very floodgates of logic and lan- 
guage are opened by it. It trains the boy The Effort to 
to speak while thinkingr and to think w^hile J^^^^"^^ . 

^ ^ Makes Logic 

speaking. He seeks the clearest thought ciear and Lan- 
and the strongest language that he may con- ^^.ge strong. 
vince others. And for these two qualities, at least, the 



368 THE RECITATION 

debate is a most important stepping-stone to better 
English. 

The problem of English will always be important. 
" For syllables," says Selden, " govern the world." The 
tongue is sharper and " the pen mightier than the sword ;" 
and he who is master of these subtle weapons will help 
rule the race. The " power to think well, speak well, 
and write well " is the crowning glory of all education 
It means facility, fluency, accuracy, clearness, force, and 
elegance in the use of language. And while it is the chief 
purpose of the school to give this power, yet it is almost 
as rare as it is desirable. It is important, then, that every 
teacher shall have a clear and comprehensive view of the 
whole subject ; that he shall see definitely the causes of 
defective English, the aims of all instruction in this 
department, and the stepping-stones by which all may 
rise to a better use of the vernacular ; and that all the 
lines of language work, the formal, the literary, and the 
creative, shall be carried forward, side by side, each sup- 
plementing, aiding and correcting, yet not superseding or 
overshadowing the others, until the pupils in all institu- 
tions, from the elementary school to the college, shall be 
given a more complete mastery of the mother-tongue. 



TOPICAL OUTLINE 

ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 

I. — Causes of Defective English. 

1. Heredity and home-environment. 

2. Insufficient time given to the study. 

3. The non-educative value of much of our language work. 

4. The study of form rather than content in language. 

5. The vagueness that surrounds both matter and method. 



ENGLISH IN THE RECITATION 369 

II. — Ends to be Attained in Teaching English. 

1. To develop the power of thought. 

2. To form habits of correct expression. 

3. To cultivate a taste for good literature. 

4. To give a mastery of the fundamental facts of English 

grammar 

III. — Stepping-stones to Better English. 

1 . The example of the teacher as a model of accuracy and 

excellence in language. 

2. Interest in the language work. 

8. An abundance of ideas and a desire to express them. 

4. The enlargement and enrichment of the child's vocab- 

ulary. 

5. The oral language lesson. 

6. The study of the masterpieces of good English. 

7. Composition as an aid to better English. 

(a) Dictation work. 
(6) Reproduction. 

(c) Letter writing. 

(d) Paragraph writing. 

(e) Personal narration. 
(/) Description. 

(g) Argument. 

(h) The formal composition. It includes three 
steps: 

(1) Gathering the material (Thinking). 

(2) Deciding upon a plan (Planning). 

(3) Writing the composition (Expressing). 

8. The study of technical grammar. 

9. The literary society. 



THE END 



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